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Excerpts from
How To Live Life and Love It! The Key to the New Age by Genevieve Behrend  Order in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $9.95 (+ printing charge)  or click here to order from Amazon.com for $14.56 Book
Description
The purpose of this series of personal-pointer Lessons, which are herein compiled into one volume, is to indicate in a clear, concise way "the natural principles governing the relation between the creative action of all thought-power and material things," i.e., circumstances and conditions. Lesson 1
LIVE LIFE AND LOVE IT! MASTER: Let us begin this morning's lesson with the certain knowledge that every living thing really wishes to enjoy Life. Once one really has entered into the true Spirit of Life that one can not help loving to live and is certain to enjoy life. PUPIL: That is just it. If one could get into the Spirit of Living Life, I am sure one, every one, would enjoy it. But it seems to me that the general run of humanity live in the spirit of death rather than of life. The average person I know is always wishing that he could but at the same time knowing that he can't. That does not seem like really living. MASTER: Indeed that is not living and people who live in that form of mental action are "the living dead." Let us see if we can not find an easy, logical method of entering into the true Spirit of Life. We know that we must enter into the Spirit of a book, or a picture, or of music, else they are entirely meaningless to us. To really appreciate anything we must share the mental attitude of the creative thought and feeling which brought them into outward form. PUPIL: Now I am wondering if getting into the spirit of a thing would be getting into the spiritual prototype of the thing we may wish to enjoy. For example, I should very much enjoy a home of my own, a husband and children. Can one really get into the spirit of these good things before one does have them, or before one can see them in form? MASTER: I am pleased that you mention the spiritual prototype is the spiritual, or mental, purpose of a thing, and is the true place of origin of anything. So you wish a home, husband, children? PUPIL: Yes, a home in the country, not a large house, one just large enough that we can live in every room of it. MASTER: The house is to be the home? PUPIL: Why yes, of course. MASTER: I asked this, you see, because just a house may not always be a home while a mere tent may be. Your prototype for the home would be PROTECTION, SHELTER, FREEDOM. To begin at the beginning let us get into the FEELING of perfect protection, shelter, freedom. Let us really feel in tune with these qualities of Spirit; and they in their turn will attract unto us the ways and means for the home. PUPIL: So far I have been jumbling everything together in my thought. Should I not take each thing separately and try to enter into the spiritual origin, or purpose, of that one thing before going on to another? MASTER: By all means finish planting one thought securely in the mind before trying to introduce another. After you have really tuned into the feeling of PROTECTION, SHELTER, SECURITY, FREEDOM, then begin to mentally build your house and people it with a husband and children. Thus you are making a mental picture of the forms you wish the Creative Energy to take. Be specific and accurate in making your mental picture, remembering that the mental picture you make is the mould into which the unformed Spirit is poured for solidifying into actual, outward form. The house itself may be a bungalow, or a two-story house, or may be of brick, or stone, or wood, or what not. It may have any number of rooms, doors, windows, a fire-place, etc. In other words you must first mentally blueprint your house. When your mental picture is perfectly finished, and your FEELING is that these things ARE yours NOW, and you KNOW that your mind is in perfect tune with the Source of all things, then, and not until then, are you ready to take the next step into the attainment of your desires. PUPIL: But the matter of the right husband, that seems very difficult for me. First, I am not in the right position to contact men and now I have only two men acquaintances, neither of which I should care to live with in my model home. MASTER: What you say does not enter into the matter at all. All that the individual does is to place into the Originating Creative Power the QUALITY one wishes to differentiate, just as one plugs into the electric current in the house when one wishes to use it. The light, the heater, the Frigidaire, the fan, the iron, or any other thing one may want to use, all are there. All of the power is already there, too. It is ready and waiting; all that is necessary is your RECOGNITION of it and your taking action to utilize it. Your recognition and your desire cause you to make the right contact; and the power that is there does all the rest. The ways and means of your meeting the one and only husband are not your own concern; they form themselves into line automatically as a result of your turning on the correct switch. PUPIL: Do you mean that it is not necessary for me to do anything to try to meet people? Do I not have to go to parties, or visit friends? Sometimes when I should be much happier at home I go to such places, and do such things, because there is always a chance of meeting the right one there. MASTER: All of that is entirely unnecessary. The power you have turned on within yourself is an ATTRACTING Power, remember! To give you an example: One time when we were in Chicago, living at the Medinah Athletic Club, a young lady came to me with much the same attitude that you express and received the same answer I give here. She was a trained nurse, a graduate of St. Luke's. She was tired of living alone, wished a home, a husband, children. After she had had ten or twelve personal interviews and lessons with me I told her, one morning as she was leaving our apartment, that it would not be necessary for her to come to see me again. She felt sure also that the contact had been made. Our apartment was on the forty-second floor; and as she caught the elevator down she said a "great wave of peace and contentment came over her." In her heart she had the consciousness of love and protection even now. At the thirty-fourth floor the elevator stopped and a young man who was very ill got into the elevator. Almost at once he folded up on the floor, unconscious. The elevator operator knew him since he had an apartment in the building; and the nurse and operator together got the man back to his apartment, into bed, and sent for the house-physician who said that the nurse had done exactly the right thing. In about an hour the man regained consciousness and sent for his own physician who wished to assign a nurse of his own choosing to the case. But the patient insisted on having the nurse who had helped him from the elevator, and kept her in attendance on him until he was fully recovered. Just about six months later patient and nurse were married. PUPIL: That was certainly a lucky break for her, that she should take just that elevator, at that time. That seems to me like drawing the lucky number on bank-night at the theatre. Of course someone always wins but there is no certainty about it, is there? MASTER: Really the two positions are not at all parallel; they are not even similar. With the nurse it was not luck at all. Deliberately, consciously, in faith, she had plugged into a circuit of great power within herself, the circuit of Universal Power that we call God, or Life and which did produce a perfect reciprocity of feeling and a certain sense of security, protection, provision, companionship. In other words she deliberately "initiated a train of causation directed to her individual purpose," to quote Troward, just as you would attach the cord to your electric-iron if you wished to press clothes. There was no luck in the matter whatsoever; it was purest science manifesting, as it always will and does, in answer to a strong desire scientifically placed. Whether it is plugging in to a circuit of electric energy or tuning in with the Creative Life Principle the procedure is exactly the same. PUPIL: I am beginning to see the light. But the case you have just told me about still seems rather spectacular and unusual. MASTER: That is because you have not trained the objective quality of your mind to know that it can always TRUST the Intelligent Creative Spirit of Life within yourself. You are letting preconceived ideas, and shallow and false ones, take precedent in your mind over pure, scientific Principle. You do not feel that you need to know the principles of electricity before you can use your vacuum-cleaner. All we know about electricity is gleaned from what we see it DO. The same thing applies to Life. The innermost principles of Life will always remain a profound mystery. But one can, and should, live life to the full in the self and love it. PUPIL: I am wondering if the nurse "lived happily ever after" with her unusually-acquired husband. And did they have the home and the children she so much desired? MASTER: The couple have lived very happily together for a number of years now and do have a comfortable home and three children. I shall explain more of that later. The secret of living life and loving this: First, your feeling towards the livingness of life in you, as well as in all life everywhere, should be to RECOGNIZE Life as Intelligent and to know that when this Intelligence is working through you it does not change its essential nature. It has always been a RECEPTIVE Power, that is AMENABLE TO SUGGESTION, and it is always RESPONSIVE and CREATIVE. This is the basis of Troward's meaning in his words which I use for my own favorite affirmation, and which, quoted, is this: "My mind IS a center of DIVINE operation. The divine operation is ALWAYS for EXPANSION and fuller EXPRESSION; and this means the production of something beyond what has gone before, something entirely NEW, not included in past experience though proceeding out of it by an orderly sequence of growth. Therefore since the Divine can not change its inherent nature it must operate in the same manner in me; consequently in my own special world, of which I am the center, it will move forward to produce NEW conditions, always in advance of any that have gone before." Once you really plug your individual consciousness into the great power of the Universe the above will be your line of thinking. You will involuntarily look to the Life-Principle in you, not only as the only Creative Energy but also as a directive Power. That is you will let God determine, through your conscious mind, the actual forms and courses which the conditions for its manifestations will always take in your own individual world. Do remember always that the Originating Spirit of Life (of YOUR life, too) is forever a FORMING Power. It is for this reason that we should use such great care in the selection of our HABITUAL thoughts and feelings - for create they will, and always. PUPIL: How may I know, for example, that my true husband is being guided to me, or I to him? MASTER: By your feeling of CERTAINTY, even though outward conditions show no sign of the fact. Still you are SURE. You feel close. You KNOW you are protected. You feel the influence of love all about you. You have stimulated these special qualities of Life in your individual world by your having persistently looked to God, knowing that He does manifest in you. Your mental attitude of faith and trust and expectancy has attracted all the joys of life. You realize that all that Life has to give is present with you NOW just as all that light has to give is present wherever light is. PUPIL: Do I understand that if I live as closely as possible in the consciousness of reciprocity of feeling, and know that love is guiding, protecting and providing for me with its abundance, I can attract these qualities of life in the form of a man? MASTER: Yes. For the house and the home FEEL protection, shelter, perfect harmony. For the husband FEEL love and joy; then LIVE IN THE FEELING OF THESE THINGS. Feeling is one of the strongest elements in Life and is also the most responsive. Lesson 2 THE FINE ART OF GIVING PUPIL: It seems to me that the pace you are setting here is going to be rather severe discipline for me. But since it is to be for only a few weeks, if I wish, I shall try it. If there is not a big change for the better, both inside and out, at the end of that time, I can stop. N'est-ce pas? MASTER: Yes, but please do not enter lightly upon this study. And do not seek to cultivate an acquaintance with God for the sake of what you will be able to get from Him. This is a tragic mistake that many people make, and which is difficult for many of them to rectify. They seek first to get, and promise faithfully that they will then give. But in so doing they have inverted the Spirit's Law of Compensation, which is good, which is as just as it is good, and which is as immutable as it is both good and just. PUPIL: This sounds interesting. What is this Great Law? MASTER: The LAW is that FIRST we must GIVE! And after we have given the getting automatically follows, just as day naturally comes with the rising of the sun. But the getting of anything good never precedes the giving of something of value! TRUE GIVING, giving with love as unto God Himself, cannot possibly impoverish anyone; nor can withholding from the Spirit and its service ever truly enrich one. Verily, " 'tis more blessed to give than to receive!" GIVING as unto God opens wide the Sanctuary of Jehovah within us in which we may always find PEACE. GIVING makes of the giver a direct channel for the transmission of Infinite Love and Power into one's daily, hourly life. Then will adversity flee; and certain achievement of "all things whatsoever ye will" follows immediately. But, I repeat, FIRST ye must GIVE! PUPIL: But what can we give to God if He already has everything? MASTER: We can give Him the one thing of which He does not have too much, of which He can never have too much, of which we can never hope to give Him too much. The one thing that God wishes us to give Him, first, last and always, is nothing less than the greatest gift in the Universe. Now what is it? PUPIL: I am sure that it is Love. MASTER: Right, but just what is Love? PUPIL: Why God is Love. MASTER: That is correct, too. But if God is Love, what is God? And if Love is God, what is Love? PUPIL: Is this a parable? What is Love? What is God? That's just what I would like to know, too. Tell us please! MASTER: Just what God is, just what Love is, each person must answer for himself. For after all your own conception of God and of Love IS God and IS Love to you! But perhaps we can set forth a few thoughts that may prove helpful, and which will be practical. To some Love is passion, and can only be conferred upon, or come from, the opposite sex. To some Love is the tenderness of a mother for her child, or of a doting father for his brood. To others Love is the love of friends, parents, or orphans. And there are some who love themselves most of all. But REAL LOVE is Love of God, and for God! To LOVE HIM is the FIRST Commandment! And if one keeps this great commandment there is no need of any other commandment; for if we really DO LOVE GOD, which is the first and greatest of the commandments, we automatically keep inviolate all the others! PUPIL: But is it enough to just love God with all of our hearts, all of our souls, and all of our minds? Must we not DO something about it as well? MASTER: Certainly we must do something about it. Love without the fruits of Love is dead! If we love God, we will serve Him devotedly, faithfully, happily, continuously. PUPIL: How best may we serve Him? MASTER: BY GIVING OF OURSELVES to our fellowman! By giving of ourselves to our neighbors as unto ourselves. A scientist, one like Doctor Walter Reed for example, who gives his very life, and lovingly and gladly, in order to benefit mankind knows the true love of God. So does the heroic nurse who ministers to afflicted mankind out of sheer love of mankind. So does the self-effacing, self-sacrificing mother, or father, or teacher, or minister. There are many ways in which one may serve. All do not possess scientific talents, nor healing talents, nor comforting talents. But all do possess something they can give! Some who feel themselves unable to serve directly give of themselves by donating money to worthy causes, and these, too, are serving God because they Love their neighbors and therefore Love Him. Let me give you an example of TRUE LOVE as I personally knew it in a wonderful woman, one of many cases that I know. PUPIL: Yes, do give us an example. They always help to clarify things, and show us how others have done what we wish to do. MASTER: Very well. This divine soul was reared in a home of great wealth and culture. But as a very young woman she made up her mind to go out into the world, "on the firing-line" itself, as she called it, to serve actively lovingly, there. She became a nun, and as such was assigned to a hospital as a trained nurse. As she entered upon her life-work she was filled with love for mankind, with enthusiasm for serving God by serving his suffering ones. And she did serve lovingly, happily, faithfully, tenderly eight hours a day, or even twelve hours daily. But the hospital was woefully understaffed; and Marie, as we shall call her here, was soon subject to call sixteen hours daily; and even during the eight hours when she was supposed to have her rest she was often summoned and asked to serve more. Her quarters were right on the same floor with many of the patients, and this ward was her charge day and night. Often at two or three o'clock in the morning the bell beside her bed would ring with an urgent summons. She would arise at once, go to the patient and minister to his or her wants. But in due time she became physically tired, and of course she began to resent the calls that broke into her rest, especially when it seemed to her, as it often did at these times, that the patient merely wished a drink of water, or wanted a pillow adjusted a certain way, or was merely lonely, all of which were irritating trifles to a weary nurse. For a month or more these trials went on, seemingly from bad to worse. Marie resolved almost desperately to do something about it, and immediately. So she cast about for a way to best remedy the situation. For days she thought about the matter, asking the Spirit for guidance. At length the flash came, directly from the Infinite! She took up a little card, wrote down the new motto that had been given her, and fastened it on the wall above her bed, right by the service bell, so that she might see it and be again reminded every time the buzzer rang. On the card she had written: "THE MASTER CALLS!" Of course her system worked from the beginning. Quite soon she was saying in immediate answer to the bell, even while sleepily fumbling for her light: "THE MASTER CALLS!" And she would arise and go and serve, without impatience, without resentment, yes, rejoicing in the opportunity to again serve in love. As a consequence her energy was untiring; she easily and joyfully did the work of three nurses, always rested, always fresh, always efficient, always smiling, whenever called. Her patients loved her greatly. She was always cheerful, always encouraging, always aglow, as it were, with a holy Love. And to those who did not know her secret, as very few did, the patients she attended seemed to be "miraculously healed." Let your motto also be: "THE MASTER CALLS!" And remember that the humblest service that you can render to the lowliest of your fellowmen, if rendered in LOVE, is a direct service to Him! PUPIL: This is a profoundly beautiful and powerful illustration. Is that the motto, or the principle, that you use in helping the many who come to you? If not, what is your own personal secret of serving? MASTER: My own method, in a way, is very similar to that of Marie. Like her I wished to serve lovingly, to serve as many as possible, to help to the limit of my powers in alleviating any and all kinds of suffering, physical, mental, spiritual or other form of unhappiness. Not only do I strive always to help those who seek me out. Every person whose hand I take into mine in greeting, every person into whose eyes I look, in all places at all times, yes even the shop girl who sells me my hose, the milkman who comes to my door, the beggar on the street, everyone to whom I speak at any and all times receives the same strong spiritual impulse from me! I INTENTIONALLY SEE THE RADIANT CHRIST IN ALL! PUPIL: But I thought that you told me once you never mentally treat people unless they ask for help. MASTER: I don't, not specifically, not specifically under any other circumstances. My secret is this: I have deliberately formed the HABIT of beholding the Christ in every soul that my eyes fall upon! I do not ever see anyone as being poor, or old, or ill, or bereaved, or lonely, or homely, or evil or imperfect in any way. I BEHOLD EACH AND ALL AS ONLY PERFECT! I SEE ONLY THE RADIANT CHRIST in every one of them BECAUSE THE CHRIST IS in each of them! Order in Adobe PDF eBook or printed form for $9.95 (+ printing charge) or click here to order from Amazon.com for $14.56 |