Gloria/Spiritual Theory of Longevity

[Guest guest]

Dear Gloria,

 

At 10:06 PM 5/23/99 -0400, you wrote:

 

This is very humbling company and I am grateful for being among you all. I

have just recently ..once again.. sigh.. had to realize that I do not take

care of myself very well. Ahimsa begins at home..right?? So, how many times

do I have to keep repeating these lessons till I finally get it?? Ha! I

should live so long...

 

<<<<

 

Don't feel bad... I'm working on many of the same issues... eating too much

or the wrong foods, quitting smoking (I'm on day 5 or so with the patch -

again) and drinking alcohol and caffeine (quit both of those, finally). Ya

know, there's really no such thing as "willpower..." bad habits drop away

when it's time for them to drop away, and not a moment sooner.

 

We are not the architects of our destiny. We do not even exist in a true

sense as individuals. "We" are a collection of conditioned personality

traits, and conditioned personality traits can't decondition themselves. I

think "the answer to everything" has something to do with allowing Grace in

all the way, surrendering enough to allow Grace to make whatever changes

are called for. Doing can only occur from a sense of being.

 

"I" used to drink a six-pack of tall beers per day. Now I get ill when I

drink even one or two beers. I don't know what happened, except that maybe

that self that is real (not the "small self," but something else) decided

to "intervene."

 

If this quit smoking attempt succeeds, I will be "clean and sober" from all

unnecessary chemicals since the first time I was about 10 and started using

caffeine regularly. The power of complete surrender, of realizing there is

no "small self," only the Atman, is truly awesome.

 

OM Shanti,

 

Tim

 

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[Guest guest]

Hi Tim G.,

>"We" are a collection of conditioned personality

>traits,

 

"Conditioned personality traits" is a good description for all the karmic

stuff that blocks us from being who we really are.

> and conditioned personality traits can't decondition themselves. -snip-

 

When we identify as one whose source is higher than that, we take our

stance on higher ground... from there we can clear away the habit patterns

and karmic crap that block our development... like cleaning away the dirt

and mud that cover a clear glass pane...

 

as the glass comes clean, the light of high self shines through it.

>The power of complete surrender, of realizing there is

>no "small self," only the Atman, is truly awesome.

 

Yessssss!!

 

Love,

Dharma