Happy New Year--Self-Interview Part 3

Q:  So, it’s the first day of 2012, and you’re going to do the self-interview thing again?  Why don’t you just wish them happy New Year?

A:  Happy New Year, everyone!  May the upcoming year be your most excellent yet.

Q:  Sweet.  So if you’re not going to write a New Year’s blog message, what sort of questions shall we go for?  Do you want to talk about philosophy, Eastern religion, practical living, or yourself?

A:  You’re a terrible interviewer.

Q:  Okay, let’s start off with why anyone should bother to read this blog.

A:  This blog is for people who are sincerely interested in living in the Truth of the Present Moment.  There are a lot of people on a spiritual trip, who define themselves as 'spiritual people,' that have not yet gotten to the point where they’re willing to do whatever it takes to remain in the Truth of the existing moment, which is the only reality there is, the only true life there is.  Most people live in their imagination, and to tell the truth, are hardly aware of what is actually going on around them.  They live in a dream-bubble floating through time and space, occasionally bumping against other dream bubbles—objective humanity.

Q:  Are you saying that the past isn’t real?  It happened, didn’t it?

A:  Well, yes and no.  It happened, relatively speaking, but on a larger scale, it is essentially no different than a dream such as the ones we wake up from after sleeping.  In reality, none of it actually happened.  The ‘Yoga Vasishtha’ refers to this physical world as ‘an illusion of longstanding duration.’  When we leave this body, it’s like waking up to a subtle reality that is much more real and familiar to us than this world of karma, which is kind of awkward and clumsy in comparison.  Instead of saying, ‘What a strange dream that was,’ it’ll be more like, ‘What a strange incarnation that was.’

Q:  Are we in a dream now?

A:  Again, yes and no.  The dream is happening; it goes on in waking life, whether we take it seriously or not.  If we are unaware of the changeless nature of the Self, then we are most probably caught up in the dream and think of it as reality, or ‘real life.’  If we are aware of the eternally changeless nature of the Self, we enjoy this karmic dream as we would a good movie or play.  It is actually a performance for our own delight, but instead of lightheartedly playing along, the ego takes it all seriously and makes everything into distressing and stressful circumstances and situations.

Q:  Where does the dream of life come from?

A:  Mind.  This apparent individual human life is a fictitious imagining of the Mind, which is creative in nature.  Ordinarily, our life is an outer manifestation of the past conditioning of the mind, which we know as subconscious mind.  Most of what we do, think, and feel, and how we act, is the result of subconscious tendencies, known in Sanskrit as samskaras.  They are the original invasion of the body-snatchers.  They make us say and do things we have no true feeling to say or do, and act in ways that we have no desire to be and would never choose to be.  When we say, ‘I’m not going to be this way ever again,’ and then a while later we are being that way again, that is a samskara—a past impression that reproduces itself over and over even though we’d prefer that it go away.

Q:  How do we break free from this?  Are there ways to make it go away?

A:  First we have to realize the truth of our predicament.  Should the great majority of people read what has been written so far, they will either consider it new-age mumbo-jumbo, or will think there are some interesting ideas, but will have no sincere interest in pursuing any of it further—especially when it comes to actually changing anything.  The ego is insidiously resistant to change.  It insists on remaining as it is, and it wants nothing to do with change unless it’s in charge of the details itself.  Even if one were to recognize a good idea, the ego, with one ‘excuse’ after another, would prevent him or her from ever actually applying it in real life.

So the first step is simply recognizing the truth of how it is—that we are actually chained to a fence of samskaras that will do everything in their power to prevent us from changing anything about ourselves or our life as it is.  The samskaras only want to reproduce the past over and over in an endless cycle.  This is why most people can never break free from the life they are presently chained in—because they cannot see any possibility beyond the samskaras, or do not understand the samskaras themselves for what they are.  Most people are totally ignorant of all this.  It is the state of the world we live in.

Q:  So how is it possible to see that something greater than what we already know is actually within reach?

A:  The soul (in Sanskrit, jiva) goes through its own evolution.  It is what incarnates from one body to another, each incarnation taking up, in conscious development, where the last left off.  At some point, when it is truly ready, it comes across someone who is happier and freer than itself, and it has reached a point, has suffered enough, that it wants to know how it is possible to be happier and freer.

That is when we find something that begins to reveal greater possibilities and a new direction to move in.  We find a book that engages us in a new way, we come across a yoga or meditation class, we meet a teacher, or someone tells us about this blog and our Course of Training via email, which I can say without any fear of successful repudiation that there is nothing else like it anywhere. 

This might at first seem like a great presumption, or even pompous arrogance, but after 50 years of sincere searching, and being fairly familiar with everything available on the ‘spiritual scene,’ I have found nothing even close to it, other than my own Teacher’s course written in the 40’s and 50’s.  Any participant of the course will tell you that they have never seen anything that compares to it.  It might sound strange coming from me, but coming from them it sounds like sincere appreciation.  Read the comments of the blog, or the postings on Facebook, to get an idea of the ongoing dialogue among course participants.

Q:  How can you account for the fact that you are associated with something unlike anything else available?

A:  For the life of me I’ve never been able to figure that one out.  I am fairly certain, however, that it has nothing whatsoever to do with me personally.  It happens in spite of me, and certainly not because of me.  I am sure that it has something to do with the teachers I have studied with and what they have passed on to me that is to be passed on to others. 

Q:  How is it that you are so certain that what you write about is actually true?

A:  I have applied the principles of Truth in my own life, and have seen for myself that they are infallible and immutable.  There is no question about their power once they are actually applied in real life.  They are not something to ‘believe’ in.  I encourage people to believe nothing, and to prove what is true in their own lives.

I am not interested in communicating something to only be believed or agreed with.  Whether anyone else believes or agrees with something or not is of no consequence to either them or to me.  I come from the experiential school.  The principles of Truth explored in the Course of Training can be experienced right from the beginning, with Lesson 1, or for many people, just from reading the blog.  There is no dogma, nothing to believe or agree with.  Never believe anything you can’t prove true in your own life.

The course is simply a clear and modern presentation of the ancient principles regarding the Truth of Being.  In a sense, it is an awakening of who we truly are.  Participating in the Course changes a person’s life on every level.  It is a process to be experienced, and one lesson leads to the next, so that there is a progression on whatever level of sadhana one might be on.  The course can be taken on whatever level of understanding you have attained, and wherever you are, it will meet you.  It is not ‘elementary’ for anyone, regardless of one’s background or previous experience.   

Q:  So what’s your perspective on the prophesized events for the year 2012?  Is there anything real to it or is it all hype?

A:  You know, I was just watching something on CNN that covered, in order, all the physical and natural catastrophes that happened somewhere in the world during 2011.   My wife Kay and I were watching it together, and we turned to each other and agreed that if that had been foresight, or seeing events ahead of their time, or knowing in advance everything that was going to happen, it would have seemed very scary and possibly even unbelievable that all that could happen in a single year. 

It has been prophesized by many different traditions that unusual changes will occur in the year 2012.  Considering 2011 as a prelude, you’d have to think the planet is heading in a direction that includes a certain degree of upheaval, inwardly as well as outwardly. 

Anything, you know, is catastrophic for whomever it’s happening to.  My mother died suddenly at the age of 43 in a car accident.  For me, who had just turned 21, that was as catastrophic as it gets.  So anything that happens is a big deal for those it happens to, and for those who know them.

Probably we’ll see more of what we’ve seen in 2011.  The worst could certainly be yet to come, but the good part is that the best is yet to come as well.  I don’t have any inside information about it.  I’m only an observer.  My perspective, and what I encourage in those who work with me, is that whatever happens, even if it at first appears catastrophic, is gradually leading to something much better than anything we’ve yet experienced.  In the end, as in the beginning, there is only perfection. 

In my eyes, only something wonderful lies ahead.  A new birth, on any level, is a wonderful opportunity for growth.  If you are not interested in growth, then simply be content.  Contentment is the highest state anyway.  There is nothing that needs to be attained.  All we need is the recognition of the Truth of the Present Moment.

In one of my responses in the comments following last month’s entry—which included some really good exchanges—I discussed the importance of understanding that the subtle world and the subtle body, in which we currently reside, are much more powerful and substantial than the physical world and the physical body.  The subtle body entered the physical body at the first inhalation, and departs on the last exhalation.  The connection between the subtle and physical bodies is the breath and the nervous system.  Through the nervous system, the physical and subtle bodies merge as one.

If a powerful bomb went off next to our physical body—which strangely happens to some people in this world—the physical body would only return to the elements of the earth from which it came, while we would simply find ourselves once again focused on the subtle body and subtle world instead of the physical body and physical world.  The actual experience would be somewhat like waking up from a dream.

Once we are fully established in the awareness that the subtle body and subtle world are more permanent and more powerful than anything in this physical existence, and that nothing in the physical world can affect the subtle body in any way—unless we allow it to in our own thinking, which would be a lack of discipline on our part—we lose our fear of anything bad happening; we lose our fear of death and destruction. 

Physical destruction seems like a big deal when we are focused on the physical body and physical world, but when we are firmly established in our subtle reality, physical destruction is seen as just another apparition in the ongoing play of constantly-changing appearances.

Q:  That seems like a lot to take in.  Knowing all that, what do we do?

A:  Knowing all that, we enjoy the simple delight of the present moment.  Our experience of the present moment can be whatever we choose it to be, unless we only passively repeat the past over and over again, and then how will we ever experience something new?

We know we are following the path of Truth as long as we keep seeing what is new.   Something ‘new’ for us is like a signpost telling us that we are on the right path.  When everything seems old and familiar, when it feels like we already understand everything worth knowing, then we can rest assured that we have strayed from the path, and we need to come back to the present moment, back to the heart, and back to our love.

This is presented in the first 2 lessons of the course:  Come back to the moment, come back to the heart, come back to your love.  It is such a simple thing to remember, yet it is so powerful to simply remember that doing this is all that is required, and that it takes no time at all.  It is a simple willingness to return to the present.  All thoughts that distract us from the Present are dropped and noted as irrelevant. 

The Truth exists only in the Present Moment.  There is no other time to Be.  Be in the Present Moment and you will be everywhere at once; you will pervade and permeate the cosmos.  There is nothing more to do.  There is only to Be.  In our culture and society a great importance is placed on ‘doing,’ and very little value is placed on ‘Being.’   Yet, in a conscious, awakened community, ‘Being’ would be highly valued, while ‘doing’ goes on, as dharmically necessary, in the background

This is living in the Truth of the Present Moment.

For information about the Course of Training written by D. R. Butler and available by email, along with a free lesson, write: drbutler.course@gmail.com

Spanish: drbutler.cursoesp@gmail.com

French: drbutler.course@gmail.com

A Precious Holiday Gift Especially For You

My mind is trying to accept that it is already December.  Not only that, it is the last month of 2011.  The year will soon be gone, finished, over with forever.  We’ll refer to it as ‘Hey, remember what happened back in ’11?’  Coming soon is…ta! ta!…2012—the year of destined great changes that affect all.

Actually, from our own individual perspective, the primary thing that matters, isn't it, is how we and our loved ones are affected.  This is only natural.  And the very best part is, it is an infallible and immutable truth that we have the power to determine in advance how any situation will affect us.

We do not have the power to determine what happens to us.  Whatever happens to us is determined by karma.  However, thankfully, karma has no power over what happens in us.    This is determined wholly by us alone in the present moment.

The trouble is that most people fail to recognize that they actually possess this power, and when we do not actually exercise our God-given free will, our perception and experience is determined by whatever patterns and tendencies we habitually live by. 

In each new moment the universe presents us a completely clean slate to begin from.  If we chose to, and exercised appropriate will power, we could create a beautiful new reality right here and now.  Instead, we habitually bring the past over and superimpose it upon the present.  This way, we never consciously realize we could easily change something if we simply used our innate and inherent power to determine our own intention--something new, more expanded, and more pleasant than before--along with the will power necessary to implement it.

It is all so simple.  Yet, while knowing this and agreeing with it wholeheartedly, we rarely are conscious enough of what we are doing and thinking in the present moment to ever apply the principle in any practical way.

Yesterday on Facebook I posted, ‘Many people who come here think they already know that they create their own personal reality through the activity of their mind.  They have accepted as a fact that thoughts are creative energy.  Yet, few actually practice the principle in a practical way in their own daily life, and continue to deal with obstacles and problems that they create in their own mind, and then wonder why things are going so badly.’

I have been formally or officially communicating principles of Truth since 1975, and I began my studies and practice in 1960.  Since then, I have seen and heard a lot.  I have had the good fortune to know firsthand how the sadhana of many different kinds of people was going.  I learned about people through what people openly and honestly shared with me over the years.  I thank God every day for the great fortune of coming across and getting to know so many great people.

One of the primary things I have learned about people is that all of us are much more alike than most of us would ever think we are.  Over the years I have had the opportunity to stay with many people of various types and lifestyles, including all areas of America and while leading weekend workshops in five other countries as well.

And I have seen beyond all doubt that we are all very much the same.  We might look different, we might dress differently, we might be of various colors and cultures, yet fundamentally all human individuals are basically the same inside.  Even the fact that we have such variant karmic conditions and situations to live in, such as one person is wealthy and famous, while another is a taxi driver, does not mean much at all in the grand scheme of things. 

Each person only experiences what in going on in his or her consciousness, which is determined by the thoughts the individual is focusing his or her attention on at the time.  There is no existing exception to this whatsoever.

If I could give each person who reads this a holiday gift—and I would dearly love to—I would give them the gift of knowing that they create their own personal reality, from one moment to the next, by their habitual thoughts and predominant mental attitude.  This is truly the Secret of the Ages.  There is no greater knowledge than this anywhere.

Many who see themselves as ‘spiritual people,’ which we discussed in depth in the previous (November) blog entry, look down on the teaching that thought is creative.  They say it is only an ego-trap to go around making any attempt to create a greater life or to transform our own state, which includes our vision and experience from moment to moment. 

Instead, they practice more advanced avenues of sadhana, such as focus on devotion to whatever they consider to be their higher Power, sacrifice, surrender, seva (selfless service), kirtan (chanting in Sanskrit), mantra-repetition, performing rituals, hatha yoga, meditation, showing up at spiritual gatherings (satsang),  and so on and on—whatever we do to try to get to wherever we think we’re going.

There is nothing whatsoever wrong with any of these practices.  They are all divine and have profoundly beneficial effects on those who practice them.  In fact I myself have practiced each of them at some point or another, many of them over long periods of time, otherwise I wouldn’t even know what I was talking about.  They are all very valuable practices, and they each serve a great function for anyone who openly and sincerely practices them. 

I will never put down another person’s practice or tradition.  All types are required, and each type serves its own function.  Different people are open to principles of Truth in different ways.  Many who have experienced many paths and methods have found our Course of Training, for example, to be perfect and ‘form-fitting’ for exactly what is needed in this present moment.  For other people, the lessons of the course would in no way be relevant or even sensible.  They would require a different type of path.

There is a path for everyone, and it is important that we find our own path and never try to do another’s path.  The Bhagavad Gita says, ‘It is better to do one’s own dharma imperfectly than to do another’s dharma perfectly.’  The paths of Gurdjieff and of Krishnamurti, for example, are completely divergent, yet at the end of each is the same goal or endgame.  Ramana Maharshi was very different from Ramakrishna, and neither of them were anything like the Buddha.  Yet they have all created or transmitted authentic paths for attaining knowledge of the Self, and even more so, the experience of the Self. 

A true teaching does not simply impart information.  A true teaching carries with it a certain energy or power or Shakti that enables the open and sincere student to actually experience the understanding inherent in the teaching in an experiential way, and not simply as theoretical knowledge.

No matter how ‘advanced’ we become in our sadhana, it still remains a Truth that what we think is what we get.  What good does it do to meditate 20 years if we’re still going to think about what we don’t want, hardly ever focusing on what is actually preferred.  If we’re going to indulge in unpleasant feelings when they could be replaced naturally and easily simply by changing the focus of our attention, what is the point of spiritual practices? 

It is the ‘elementary, basic’ principle that everyone seems to know but few actually practice in practical ways in everyday, daily life.

Once again, my gift to you this holiday season is the reminder of what you already know, although the significance of your knowledge is much more profound that you might ordinarily think:  Thought is creative energy in motion, a cause of an eventual effect corresponding to the nature of the thought that caused it. 

This is the way the world works.  The great text, the ‘Yoga Vasishtha,’ which explains everything about how the universe works and how the Universal becomes the individual, is basically transmitting this simple Knowledge over and over in many different ways—which is the only way it can truly be communicated or learned.

The Truth cannot be imbibed merely by agreeing with it.  Sadhana is becoming so attuned to and aligned with the Truth that we finally realize that we ARE the Truth.

We are what we think,
having become what we thought.
Like the wheel following the cart pulling ox,
Sorrow follows an evil thought.
And joy follows a pure thought,
like a shadow faithfully tailing a man.
We are what we think, having become what we thought.
~~The Dhammapada (believed to have been written by the Buddha)

We have space for a couple of exchanges from last month’s comments.  I truly recommend reading through them.  The heart of the blog is the comments, not the entries.  I look forward to the comments that will come in this month as well, and to interacting with you.  Now I’ll post my responses to a couple of recent questions relevant to this blog entry.

Chris, there is no directive in the course to use creative power to change anything about your life, especially if it is perfect as it is and you have no desire to change anything.

That principle is only for people who are displeased with some aspect of how their life is currently manifesting, and who need to know the principle for the transformation of some condition or situation to something that is more helpful and dharmic—or what is for the good of all, which is in truth the primary aspect of dharma.

If you see everything as perfect all the time, then you can think whatever you want all you like. Or you might not think at all, who knows?

Of course all feelings serve various functions and purposes. This is explored with great clarity in the lessons of the course. Fear has a purpose, anger has a purpose. However, some people have the misfortune of fear and/or anger imposing themselves upon them unnaturally, and experiencing fear and anger when it is totally unnecessary and serves no purpose other than to bring them down to a more fearful and contracted state.

The principle deals with the unwanted and unnecessary fear and anger, not the useful and necessary kind.

When reading the lessons, it is important to read everything in the context in which it is presented, as well as seeing each statement or contemplation from the highest or most expanded perspective possible. Perspective is everything when it comes to how we see what.

Chris was not satisfied.  He wrote back to say, , 'My whole personal beef with the whole "creating your own reality" thing is that it could be used as an ego trip.'

Neither of us knew at the time was that this would be the inspiration for the current blog entry.  I responded:

I truly understand your 'conflict' with the 'creating your own reality' thing. It sounds like a lot of other things that have left a bad impression on some, like 'The Secret,' for example, which many people liked a great deal, but which many didn't, for the same reasons you bring up yourself--that it wasn't really the highest approach to spiritual development.

Here is the reason I present the principle in the early part of the course: We use this Creative Power all the time anyway, only we do it subconsciously, according to conditioned patterns—which are primarily and persistently thinking about and creating the very things we do not want and which do not serve us or anyone around us in any positive way.

Since we use this power anyway to create all our troubles and obstacles in life, why not be conscious of it and its true potential? Truly, most people are totally unconscious of the principle, even though they unknowingly use it to create their own personal life, including all that is difficult about it.

If you create your reality through what you predominantly think, don't you want to know about it?  Don’t you prefer to actually know what you are doing?

The first year or two of the course, while presenting the highest principles of the Truth of Being right from the beginning, also focus on helping us to get our physical lives in order, so that we can enjoy harmony and prosperity in daily life.  Only then are we truly ready, open, and receptive to delve into deeper principles.  

We can't be committed to our own spiritual path if we are constantly distracted by egotistical melodramas in the mind, which result in a disorderly and largely dysfunctional life.

As mentioned, everything is revealed from the beginning. Nothing is held back for later. It's just that, two years after first reading Lesson 1, you go back and read it anew and you are amazed at all that is in there that you didn't even notice the first time through. This is because your awareness is now awakened and expanded to such a degree that you can literally see things that you once just couldn't bring into your consciousness.  A greater clarity arises—which we know as ‘The Evolution of Wisdom,' which is an early section of the course that explores much that must be understood before true progress is possible.

Basically, it is that everything we know and understand can be known and understood on a more expanded level. That is why the course is not about ‘presenting new information.’  There is no new information available anywhere, unless you are interested in scholarly pursuits. 

The course is about the generation and reception of an elevating energy that expands our perspective from the inside, and presents us with an entirely new vision and experience of life.  Of course, this can neither be truly comprehended or accepted without the actual experience of the course.  This is why Lesson 1 is freely available to anyone who requests it.

Enjoy your holidays.

 For information about the Course of Training written by D. R. Butler and available by email—along with a free Lesson 1 so that you can experience what happens for yourself—write: drbutler.course@gmail.com

Spanish: drbutler.cursoesp@gmail.com

French: drbutler.course@gmail.com

The Eternal Serenity of All Things

Not long ago someone said to me, ‘So these are the things I need to focus on to get my life more on track.’  And she started listing all these complicated and irrelevant things that she was going to keep in mind to do, so that her life would generally be better.

I finally interrupted her and said, ‘Please forget all of that, for none of it will do you any good whatsoever.  All you have to focus on is the eternal serenity of all things.’

We make things so complicated and difficult for ourselves.  Sometimes we wonder why life seems so hard, never realizing that we ourselves are the one making it hard.  If we changed our attitude, our approach, our perspective of things, and our thoughts and feelings about whatever is happening, everything would be so much lighter, so much more fun.

All we need to focus on is the eternal serenity of all things.  Nothing is going wrong anywhere.  Nothing bad is happening to anyone.  I know that it appears that such things are happening, but maya is very powerful and very convincing, and things are not as they appear to be.  

Focus on the eternal serenity of all things.

Thank you for your great responses to the special blog entry posted about a week ago.  It has already broken the old record for number of comments following a blog entry that was originally set following the entry of July, 2010, and it has only taken a few days. 

My heart soared when I saw so many writing to say that they never realized how much uplifting activity was going on here, and how such a great feeling of community was in the comments, and promising to make a more regular stop here to keep up with and possibly interact with the others in the blog comments.  I was extremely happy and grateful that you had truly ‘heard’ the message in that special entry, and if you haven’t yet seen it, especially if you participate in the Course of Training, please read the previous entry and all the great comments following it as well.

There have been some excellent Q&A exchanges in the comments recently, and some of them are good enough that they deserve a more prominent presentation, so that others can have easier access to them.  If you have already read them, please be assured that reading them again will be surprisingly beneficial.  Also, I have enhanced the answers for this blog entry.

Rico:  'How do you know what you see in another is actually there and not just a projection or a reflection?'

DRB:  Good question. If you see something in another that is actually there, you simply notice it, but you have no feelings about it. There is no emotional charge. For example, you see a black cat, and you acknowledge that the cat is black. It's a simple fact and you have no feelings about it either way.

If you are projecting or seeing reflections, you almost always have corresponding emotional reactions. You might not like it; something about it might bother you; you might have an intense fear of or aversion toward it; you might tend to be defensive and to make wrong and be right. All these things come up with a projection or reflections.

Something about what we are seeing feels off to us. What is off is that we don't recognize that it is our own projection, or a reflection of something we don't want to acknowledge and accept about ourselves.

Anonymous asks how walking and sitting can be spiritual practices. Here is something very important to understand about my approach to sadhana: everything is equally a spiritual practice. Truly, what is not a spiritual practice? It all depends on the consciousness brought to it.

I can sit in meditation and think of all kinds of worldly things. I can go to a movie and experience deep meditation.  So which is the true spiritual practice?

Walking and sitting are both ways to meditate. Why sit or walk if you are not going to meditate? This doesn't mean you have to walk with your eyes closed. Practice open-eyed meditation. This doesn't mean you have to ignore others during conversation. If you can't meditate while you're talking to another, then what's the point of meditating at all?

Everything is a spiritual practice. Simply carrying around this corpse waiting to happen is a spiritual practice. It simply depends on how you are directing attention.

All this, of course, is explored fully in the Course of Training.

Scott Uddhava Marmorstein—healer, personal guide, writer, and teacher, whose website is sparklingaura.com—wrote in several questions, including an observation about ‘spiritual people.’  This was my reply:

Excellent post, Scott. A lot to chew on there.

One question I have: Who are the 'spiritual people?' What distinguishes them from unspiritual people, or from just regular people? If we were around certain people whom I consider to be the most 'spiritual' of all, there might not be anything about them that anyone would consider 'spiritual' in the least. In fact, from appearances I doubt that anyone just seeing me or being around me might categorize me as 'spiritual' in any way whatsoever. So I truly wonder what a 'spiritual person' is.

As far as who gets what, aside from karma, it is extraordinarily simple, whether one is in the least bit 'spiritual' or not. When, as you say, 'someone wants something with a fervor,' they are obviously conscious of lack, of not having it—otherwise there would be no fervor to get it.

We don't get what we want. We get what we are conscious of having.

Even the most subtle desire is the consciousness of lack—of not having what is desired. This repels any opportunity we might have of ever getting it. To 'get' something—and personally I prefer to be cheerful with what comes unsought—we must affirm its existence, at least in subtle form, which will invariably be reflected physically if we have enough emotional intensity to feel it into existence.

If we are conscious of already having something, there is nothing that can prevent us from having it. If we are conscious of not having something, there is nothing that can make it possible for us to have it.

Regarding the 'spiritual people,' a lot of people can read a few books or articles on the Internet and pick up a bit of knowledge and think they have become 'spiritual' as a result. Or they might even attend a few yoga classes or meditation classes, learn how to chant in Sanskrit, and go on to practice these things at home on their own. They can do excellent hatha yoga postures, meditate for hours without breathing, repeat a mantra, either out loud or silently, burn incense from the local center or ashram, put up some pictures of saints, wear yoga clothes, dress in white, grow or cut their hair, change their diet and lifestyle, give up their pleasures, wake up in the middle of the night to do their practices before the day begins, and speak glowingly of the fruits of their practice to others.

Yet they know nothing of the creative nature of thought, do nothing to change thought patterns to be more uplifting and cheerful, or to do whatever is necessary to be in harmony with others at all times, or KNOW that their income is commensurate with their degree of CONSCIOUSNESS of wealth or poverty—which alone is the determining factor.

Just because one is a 'spiritual person' means nothing in regards to how proficiently they function in the world, or their capacity to generate an income that actually meets all their needs and more, which is easily possible if a person actually learns to think for himself instead of being a slave to past conditioning.

This is why we have a Course of Training. We can learn how to live in complete freedom and contentment whether we are 'spiritual people' or not.
Scott chimed in again with this:  ‘You say to KNOW that you have everything at least in subtle form. I can at best 'know about' it (intellectually) but it does not equate to a FEELING as though what I KNOW is true. How to KNOW something that doesn't yet exist even in my feeling? Is that truly Creation? For example, I can know all about India, but it doesn't make me Indian. I can know all about money, but it doesn't mean I know I have it. I recognize that this is a global samskara for many, especially when one simply looks to our national economy, it is a reflection of the poverty consciousness at large.  How is it possible to know something you don't really know? Or does one address whatever is resistant or unbelieving in the first place before the other can take root?’

I answered:  It's not about knowing 'about' anything, like about India and about money and the other examples you mentioned.

You said, 'You say to KNOW that you have everything at least in subtle form.'

Then you went on to ignore the principle in several different ways. It's so challenging to truly understand a simple sentence, a simple principle of Truth.  You, of all people, are skipping over the part about 'in subtle form' almost as though you don't recognize the significance of the words.

Can you visualize a candle flame, or a rose, in your 'mind's eye'? I imagine that you can do this rather easily. When I first started this path in my teens, one of the first things in my own sadhana was developing the ability to concentrate and to visualize.  I practiced certain exercises diligently to develop these abilities.  Without them, we have very little power in this world. With them, our power is unlimited.

Through practice, you can visualize a rose so clearly and vividly that you can bend over and actually smell it, the subtle fragrance of a rose. When you can do this, this rose does exist subtly. It is not mere 'imagination' as though your mind's eye counts for nothing. What you 'see' with your mind's eye is subtle reality.

You asked if this is truly Creation. Yes, it is truly Creation. It is the Creative Principle at work. There is nothing in this world that is more powerful. It's literally being aligned with the Creative Power of God.

So there is this question of prosperity.  Funny, my original teacher that I came across at 15 had been sent by his Master in the Tibetan lamasery where he had lived for 17 years to America to teach the principles of how to get out of the depression and restore prosperity.  Of course, this is exactly what happened.  Now, in a sense, at least from your questions, the same thing seems to be repeating itself again.  People need to once again learn how to create prosperity.

Yes, the international economy, the economy of the world today, is in the worst shape of our lifetimes. We see this reflected everywhere, to the boarded up stores on our streets to the long unemployment lines. It is not currently a time of mass prosperity, as we have experienced from time to time in the past. Such things always happen in cycles.

As you know, I encourage participants of the Course of Training to learn to be more focused on the subtle body and subtle realm than on the physical body and realm, which is very short in duration in comparison. It seems like we have a long life, but a bug probably experiences itself to have a long life also. On a scale of cosmic or even astronomical events, our lifespan is extremely ephemeral. We are here today, gone tomorrow. We don't even have that long of a half-life, which manifests in the form of the memories others have of us. Before long they are all gone too.

Regarding our finances. Obviously it is best to position ourselves where we don't collapse when the outer world collapses, where we remain unaffected and undisturbed no matter what happens out there.  The only way to do this is to develop the sense of reality regarding the subtle realm, and truly getting it that it is not mere imagination. It is, in fact, much more real, and much longer lasting, than this world.

This physical incarnation is like the subtle body having a dream—the dream of the jiva. We never left the subtle world. We live there even now, only most of us are largely focused on the physical world only, like being hypnotized without knowing it, which is usually the case.

Each person has a 'feeling' regarding their personal financial situation. That feeling is our subtle belief about the state of our finances. The subtle world is a world of feelings; in fact, all our feelings take place subtly; feelings are not a physical phenomenon.

If we feel somewhat shaky about our financial foundation, then the reality of our situation will probably be a little shaky as well. If we live with the feeling that whatever is truly need always comes to us when, or before, it is actually needed, sometimes in the nick of time, then this is the reality we will experience.

To KNOW something as a subtle reality you literally have to deny the evidence of the senses. You have to see that this physical world as it is now, in all aspects, are the result of the past. It is the experience of seeing the past happening in front of your eyes, which happens all the time.

Subtly, however, in visualization and concentration, something entirely new can be created, something unprecedented. However, we have to ignore the apparent reality of the current physical manifestation. At first this feels somewhat like sticking your head in the sand to avoid outer reality, but by holding our preferred reality in our heart subtly, KNOWING that it is ALREADY REAL, as an emotional feeling, then there is no force in this world that can stop its manifestation.

Do not think of details of how it will be accomplished. Something much greater than the mind takes care of all the details. Simply create the feeling that you would enjoy if your greatest aspiration were already a reality. When you establish this feeling as your inner reality, then you are participating in the process of Creation.

Scott’s partner, Michelle Synnestvedt—hatha yoga teacher supreme, teacher of hatha yoga teachers, and owner of prasadyoga.com, and forms a team with Scott for healing, aura cleansing, and balancing of chakras—had this to say:  ‘Volume 2 Lesson 9 is the most extraordinary lesson I have come to so far. It is an energetic PORTAL. It is an immediate experience of the most intense magic...it is altering in so many ways. We have access to SO MUCH...it is hilarious how small we keep pretending to be. Thank you for this lesson...it is my favorite so far...or at least in this moment, lol.’
I responded:  Thank you for sharing your enriching comments with all of us, Michelle. Being such a respected teacher in your own right, it is a cool example to openly reveal your acknowledgment and appreciation of what you are being given through the form of the course.

That lesson is one of my personal favorites as well. Like you say, it is a portal into a whole new way of seeing and understanding things. It is a peek into the future that we are living into; a glimpse of where we're headed.

So many people comment about how they reach a point in the course and realize that the course is a whole greater thing than anything they had previously grasped, even though they already loved it and had benefitted so much. As our understanding deepens ('The Evolution of Wisdom'—the title of one of the early sections of the course, and something important to understand) we develop the capacity to see things for the first time that we had never seen before even though they were always present.

There are various levels of initiation. An initiation gives us a greater awareness and understanding of what we already thought we knew. It is an expansion of personal consciousness, as Impersonal Consciousness is already fully expanded.

What you experienced in that lesson is only a sign of what is to come. We've only explored the tip of the iceberg so far. Many great portals lie ahead to take us to greater depths of experience.

The average person would have no way of understanding or even comprehending what the course is actually about, or what level it actually takes place on. Others have some idea, but think they have to go all the way to India to get it.

I posted the following near the end of the comments following the previous entry:  You guys have showed yourselves, shared of yourselves, introduced yourselves, and revealed something of your thinking in these comments. It is a very fascinating process. I truly appreciate your contributions in any form.

I also recognize that many of you are readers and not posters, and that it is a matter of one's own nature and preference, and that it is as perfect as everything else.

We are generating and creating a greater feeling of community, which is very important. Being a part of a community, a kula, while totally being yourself, and true to yourself in all ways, will soon reveal how your very presence contributes to the community.

It is important to share a sense of community, to know there are others out there just like you and involved in the same process that you yourself are. It creates the possibility for a whole new level of sadhana.

Thanks so much to all the new people who have come forward for the first time and revealed that you exist and that you actually do read the blog. Thanks for sharing in our Love.

For information about the Course of Training written by D. R. Butler and available by email, write: drbutler.course@gmail.com

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