Vernon Howard's Monthly Lessons

[The Mystical Man]

You will start to stop letting others steal your attention. Because you are asleep, you think it’s natural and friendly. You don’t know how you resent it. Watch for instances where people attempt to steal your attention. You don’t want people to steal your money, but you let them steal your psychic energy. For one thing, you will no longer feel obligated to participate in a social conversation. Save your energy for the enormous task of waking up.

[The Mystical Man]

Use the words that hurt. This shows us what we are really like.

[The Mystical Man]

Do right even if tempted to do wrong.
Do right even if it means losing a friend.
Do right even if you don’t understand why you should.
Do right even if you fear the consequences.
Do right even if you don’t want to.
Do right even if it feels strange.
Do right even if it arouses criticism.
Do right even if it’s you against the world.

[The Mystical Man]

A person might be dominated by:

• An attempt to appear wise by aggressive ignorance.
• Pouncing upon another’s mistakes.
• Pleading for acceptance.
• A demand for attention.
• Wishing to appear generous.
• Unconscious blabbermouthery.
• Anxious self-explanation.
• Pleasure over evil victory.
• Boasting about a trivial success.
• Wishing to appear important.
• Embarrassment over a mistake.
• A desire to hurt someone.
• Reluctant agreement.
• Not knowing what to say.
• Nervous indecision.
• A wish for flattery.
• A closed mind.
• Self-centered apathy.
• Sudden insolence.
• Pretense of happiness.
• Unloading his troubles.
• Suppressed hostility.
• General unpleasantness.
• Hinting for a favor.
• Unawareness of self.

This knowledge of human behavior will lead you to God.

[The Mystical Man]

Practice watching clearly an event in your life — an unkind remark for instance — and see how you are driven frantic to try and do something about it. Watch the urging to answer with a snappy, sarcastic remark. Begin to see that something, of which you are unaware, is living your life for you, and it will continue until you start to work.

Wrong Way

1. The event
2. Wrong thought reaction
3. Arising of false self
4. Creation of problem

Right Way

1. The event
2. Practical thought reaction
3. No arising of false self
4. No problem

[The Mystical Man]

Whatever you think — that is what you are at that moment. You will see there is no controller — just vagabond thoughts. You will also see that thoughts come to you rather than you promoting your own thoughts. Look at these thoughts as if they had no connection with your real nature, which they don’t.

Watch how anything attractive or repulsive can take you away from yourself.

If it seems difficult to work against your usual habits, remember this spiritual law: Do things the easy way and you perpetuate the hard life. But do things the hard way and you finally come to the easy life.

A small negative incident happens and you allow it to grow and assume great importance. Be alert to this and go through the strain and pain of NOT getting carried away.

See how much of your thought about others is invalid and start to break the chain.

Edited September 13, 2022 by The Mystical Man

[The Mystical Man]

For heaven’s sake grow up. You have to do the work yourself. There is no big daddy to do the work for you. You want someone to do your thinking for you, to tell you what to do, while you regress to a small child again. Let mama and papa make the decisions for you while you play. You can play with your toys of agitation and pretense, feeling that someone else is going to take care of you. When are you going to abandon infantile ways of living? When you don’t get what you want, you scream about injustice and how you have been put upon. To stop your infantile ways, stop fawning, worshipping, and admiring people.

[The Mystical Man]

Stop being afraid of this sick world. Stop it! That man or woman can’t do a thing to you — not if you really understand. You have nothing, nothing to protect.

Don’t you ever accept anger in yourself or others as being right.

Edited September 13, 2022 by The Mystical Man

[The Mystical Man]

One way in which we can create understanding is to make connections between ideas. Here are examples of how two ideas that don’t seem to go together can be put together, and your part is to see how all ideas are connected to each other.

Connect:

• Demands with a dull life.
• Dizzy thinking with cunning.
• False values with confusion.

[The Mystical Man]

No one is nice unless he can be so without nice possessions and nice advantages. May heaven help you if you cling to your supposed advantages, your securities, your comforts. Anything you look forward to will destroy you as it already has.

Time is my thoughts, my physical body, my attitudes. They are not part of my real nature. Neither are my past and future. When I understand that, then the sensing of nowness, which is eternity, takes its place. Nowness then directs the present time-nature intelligently without conceit or self-centeredness.

Eternity can understand time but time cannot understand eternity. Nothing changes in time. Things change in the absence of time.

Deliberately rob yourself of the pleasure of making that remark. Go through the hell of not saying what your old nature wants you to say.

[Leo Gura]

Vernon is one of those little-known gems in the field. Most noobs go fawning over Eckhart Tolle and miss out on the gold.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Leo Gura

[The Mystical Man]

14 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Vernon is one of those little-known gems in the field. Most noobs go fawning over Eckhart Tolle and miss out on the gold.

Vernon is a great example of Fierce Love. How compassionate of him to point out the devilry of the mind.

[Leo Gura]

56 minutes ago, The Mystical Man said:

Vernon is a great example of Fierce Love. How compassionate of him to point out the devilry of the mind.

I learned from the best

Edited September 13, 2022 by Leo Gura

[Razard86]

12 hours ago, The Mystical Man said:

Things change in the absence of time.

 

He lost me on this one...

Change= time. Without change we wouldn't have time. We invented time to track change.  So yeah...doesn't make sense. Time is a created distinction to track the different expressions. It first started with day and night, and then the weather seasons. We use it to track sleep and waking up as well.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Razard86

[Thought Art]

@Razard86 Just wait till you have a mystical experience that there is no time. That will change you for sure…

There is a whole experiential possibility outside of that causality (which is your dream btw). 

[Proverbs35]

Thanks for this thread. I signed up just to thank you! 

[UnbornTao]

What a gem.

Edited February 22, 2023 by UnbornTao