from The picture of man for 12-steppers

SUGGESTION

Did you know that human beings are 100% subject to suggestion 100% of the time? It is part of the nature of Life on Earth. Acting on suggestion is what led to your disintegrating state.

Any threat or promise is a suggestion.

It was a suggestion that drink or drugs or binges would change your inner feeling into something more pleasant. It was a promise, but a shallow one. When the substance wore off, the inner feeling was worse than before. The dire results were not part of the promise, were they? You can see that suggestion is often a lie.

People use suggestion to control others all the time. Many sales people, for instance, would be out of work without the handy tool of suggestion to make sales. Parents use it to control their little banshees.
Institutions use suggestion for their bread and butter.

It is the nature of the human being to being to be subject  to suggestion but he doesn't have to act on it. What he has to do is evaluate it. A suggestion received will always be evaluated, consciously or unconsciously. But if it is not to my advantage, I am not under any obligation to accept it. Part of the unification process is to stop reacting to suggestions, greedily accepting promises and fearfully accepting threats. I can stop reacting and respond, instead, by evaluating whether or not it is to my advantage.

Does a hit of cocaine or a drink contain a promise? That I will feel better than I do? Probably. Is it to my advantage to take this substance to momentarily change my feeling? Most likely not.

Suggestions are everywhere in our world. They refer to our health, our morality, our intelligence, our finances, our personal value, our value within a group. They threaten and they promise. They presume we are not capable of evaluating for ourselves what's going on and what is to our advantage.

The Science of man says you are fully capable of being responsible enough to evaluate what is to your advantage; that you can transcend the usual reaction to threat and promise by responding instead. The definition of response is to consciously evaluate a stimulus as to it's advantage.

Be always on the lookout for threats and promises. They are trying to usurp your own innate good sense.

Teaching idea 156

Our #1 job is to make a total commitment to be responsible for our inner state of being. It is the most valuable commitment we make. Without doing this, everything else is nothing.

Teaching ideas

99. The whole idea of the Teaching material is for man to be aware of what is.

100. X generates action for every action the awareness values. All human energy comes from X. It is spiritual energy. The "Not-I's" using this energy is the disintegration of man.

101. Spirit, soul, psyche are all synonymous.

102. Man was never designed to have emotions-anger, guilt, fear, insecurity, and all the many sub-groups.

103. Expectation based on illusion is the disintegrating factor.

104. I owns nothing. I is an observer and reporter only.

105. Self-knowing means to be aware of the ideas one has lived by; being aware of the ideals that have been set up and the impossibility of their fufillment.

From notes 1971

START THIS MOMENT-living without--

CONFLICT
STRUGGLE
RESISTANCE

From moment to moment!!!!

First--SEE the fallacy of struggling for satisfaction (goals) and start ENJOYING (putting JOY INTO)
the present moment. (PURPOSE)

I DOING THIS.
I AM FREE TO DO THIS.
I AM FREE TO CHANGE IF I WANT TO.
I AM CHANGING (CHOOSING) MY RESPONSE TO THIS.
I AM DOING WHAT I FEEL IS TO MY BEST ADVANTAGE AT THIS TIME.
I AM FREE TO CHOOSE DIFFERENTLY IF I WANT TO.
I CAN SEE THE FALLACY OF BEING BOUND BY "SHOULD AND OUGHTS"
WHICH ARE REALLY "COULDS"
I DO SEE NOW THAT THEY CAN BE USEFUL TO ME, TO SEE WHAT IS TO MY ADVANTAGE.
WHEN I SEE SOMETHING IS TO MY ADVANTAGE, I CHOOSE IT FREELY; THEREFORE WITHOUT CONFLICT OR RESISTANCE.

Teaching idea #223 #224 #225

#223. Whenever "I" make anything important, "I" am anxious.

#224. Anxiety: When I want something to be different than it is.

#225. When we are free to experience whatever comes my way today, there is no resistance. Everything is interesting.

Excerpt from Scottsdale 1970 talk

If I make it important not to make anything important, that sets up an anxiety.

The place of language in the teachings page 4 excerpt

RIGHTS
Something that is not supposed to be earned and cannot be lost-actually nonexistent, an illusion.

PRIVELEGS
That which is given to one and is maintained, enhanced and increased by one's own effort.

The place of language in the teaching

Goal

Identifying a 'need' to be gained in the future.

Aim

A direction to go NOW. 'Going' in the fulfillment, not getting.

Teaching ideas

208. A fully conscious person can play any role he wants to play.

209. We cannot be a role player until we are rid of the infantile decisions and the four dual basic urges.

210. We can be objective when we don't know what ought to be.

Teaching ideas

362. We cannot change ourselves. We can only be aware of what is there without judging it.

Who's in charge of my inner state of being? page 31 excerpt

We have allowed our inner state of being to be like an empty beer can kids kick on their way to school. One kicks it down this way, another kicks it back the other way, and another kicks it out on the street and a truck runs over it. And it's all flattened out!!! That is our usual state of being.

Teaching ideas

213. X renders "Not-I's" inoperative one by one, when they are observed and reported. They cease to be conditioning. They cease to operate the body.

220. When we are not trying to gain or escape anything, not struggling, the mind is quiet.

231. Fear is the result of wanting to be safe.

232. Just because we feel something, doesn't make it true.

346. Point of awareness can observe the conditioning, without identifying or trying to straighten it out. Only X knows what to do with the conditioning.

Teaching ideas

The only thing we can do  is change our frame of reference. We have to see and understand, no one can do this for us.

The only possibility for a person to be transformed is by a transformation in the frame of reference. This takes effort and practice. We are never done with practicing. There are all sorts of resistance to this.

We do have an awareness that is not conditioned. It has been asleep for many years.

Ego frame of reference: I know what ought to be; I know what they need; I know what to blame; I know the future.

Anyone operating from the ego frame of reference can make an emergency out of most any situation that comes along.

A man with a new frame of reference is a new man.

Vital interest

From Mountain climbing tape 21

Vital interest, exhilaration, and so forth are dependent on one's efforts and intentions.


From Newport Beach '80

Vital interest is when the person is consciously decided to be truly interested in something - picked up their own inner state and was in charge.

From Port Orange

Vital interest the person is fine,  they can't wait to get up in the morning and go do whatever it is they want to do, whatever they're interested in, and they feel good, look good, and in a pretty viable state of being. So if you're in Vital interest, your doing fine, don't even need to be here at the workshop, ok?

(more from P.O)

Now, the way this works is .... first thing, you think how would you like to feel. You kind of know that don't you? You don't have to think to long on that. So I would like to feel vitally interested and at peace with the world, is that all right? So you think that. Then you would ask yourself, "How would I act if I already felt this way?"

Well you don't feel that way! But how would act if felt that way? You would be interested. You'd have a smile on your face. You'd stand up erect, walk around like you knew what you were doing and so forth. So you begin to act that way. You would put on an act after thinking. It's purely an act, a "put on' if you please. And in very short order you will begin to feel that way, it usually takes about 30 minutes of acting and you will begin to feel vitally interested.

Headlines excerpt

Man is the only unspecialized being on earth, so he must consciously choose a role and play it or he will be forced into a specialized role by another and be exploited.

A wonderful thing about choosing a role is that one can write the script, play the role, and direct the performance. There are few who accept this great gift, so there are few people who are described as truly great.

Headlines page 10 11

It seems that many people ask the questions, "Where did I come from?" or "Where am I going". Few ask the vital question, "Where am I".

By asking the question, "Where am I?" we may see that man is a privileged, invited guest in a beautiful estate called the earth and that life is the host. Seeing this would enable us to see that the host has always provided food, clothing and shelter through one channel or another ever since we have been at the party. The host apparently finds all his invited guests interesting, because he did not ask anyone's approval of the guest list. Further, we brought nothing with us to the party and those who leave do not take anything with them. Finally, we may discover that a lot of games are being played and these games can be played consciously.

Headlines page 10

One can at least contribute to the making of a pleasant, harmonious mood, even if one is without funds, comfort and help.

Headlines page 6

Is the ideal a reality or a picture one the mind?

Is an illusion a picture in the mind? Is the struggle toward an illusion the disintegrating factor?

Expectations

A. Expectations based on misconceptions leads to disappointment

1. That people will do what is right if they know what is right.

2. That other people know how they make me feel and they will help me.

3. That if I complain, I will get my way.

4. That if I can get my own way, I will be non-disturbed.

5. That if I please people, I will be non-disturbed.

6. That if I please people, they will do what I want.

7. That I can change myself if I make up my mind.

8. That I have rights other people should respect.

9. That I would be happy if other people or something were different.

10. That others will accept my conclusions and reasons.

B. Anticipation based on illusion leads to anxiety

1. Any unanswerable question leads to anxiety, any "what if?"

C. Expectation and anticipation can be made conscious

1. When they are made conscious, justification based on illusions vanishes, bringing false expectations to an end.

D. Expectation based on fact leads to creative action

1. The fact is that the world is populated with infants in grown bodies with some technical education.

2. The fact is that people can never do anything, which at the moment of doing, they do not feel is right or proper or justified.

E. Anticipation based on fact leads to the joy of experiencing

1. The fact is that each experience is perfect for the time and place, even though it may not suit our taste or be without discomfort.