The Way Toward Health - June 22, 1984

June 22, 1984

It is vital, then, that any therapist convinces the client that while the superbeing is a self-construction, and/or that the voices are hallucinations – this does not mean that the client is insane.

An effort should be made to help the client understand that errors of thought and belief are responsible for the condition – and that the removal of those erroneous beliefs can relieve the situation.  The therapist should make it clear that he understands that the client is not lying, in ordinary terms, when he reports hearing voices from the devil.

According to the particular case in point, the therapist should then try to point out the errors of thought and belief involved, and also to explain their more or less habitual cast.

First, the ideas must be disentangled, and then the habitual behavior will begin to disintegrate.  The therapist should also assure the client that on many subjects and topics of thought and conversation, the client operates quite well.  The subject itself is so vast that, of course, an entire book could easily be devoted to it, so it is impossible to cover all the issues that may be involved with such cases here.

Some of the errors concern the misinterpretation of physical events.  The individual – convinced he or she is being pursued by some secretive organization – again, may hear the sirens on a very real police car.  The error is the assumption that the vehicle is pursuing the individual rather than some other party.  The therapist can help the client learn to question his or her personal interpretation of such events.

All such cases can have their own peculiar complications.  In the case of secondary personalities, the main operating portion who usually directs activity might be male, displaying all of the usual male characteristics.  The secondary personality may seemingly be female, however, even speaking in a feminine-like voice.  Or the opposite might be the case.

It is also possible for the individual to dress in male attire, while the secondary personality wears feminine clothes – or vice-versa.

What we are involved in mainly, however, are the characteristic periods of seeming amnesia, occurring usually involuntarily, often without any transition except perhaps for a headache.

In this category, I am not referring to individuals like Ruburt, who speak for another personality with a sense of ease and tranquility, and whose resulting information is excellent knowledge – the obvious products of uncommon sense that proves to be helpful to the individual and others.

Behind all of those instances we have been discussing, however, there is again the need for value fulfillment, that has been blocked largely by conflicting or even opposing beliefs.

Regardless of how unbelievable it might seem to some readers, it is true that even the most destructive events are based upon misinterpretations of reality, opposing beliefs, and the inability to receive or express love.  In fact, that kind of rage is the mark of a perfectionist caught in what seems to be the grasp of a world not only imperfect, but evil.

This brings us to another most dangerous belief – that the end justifies the means.

The greatest majority of destructive acts are committed in line with that belief.  It leads to a disciplined over rigidity that gradually cuts down the range of human expression.

You should be able to see, in fact, that the problems we have been discussing begin by limiting the field of available choices, and thus curtailing the range of expression.  The individual will try to express himself or herself to the best degree possible, and so each individual then begins a concerted effort to seek out those avenues of expression still open.  All of the constructive beliefs mentioned throughout this book should be applied to all of the instances in this chapter.  The individual must feel safe and protected enough to seek its own development and aid in the fulfillment of others.

The Way Toward Health - June 21, 1984

June 21, 1984

Some people may seem completely normal in behavior unless certain subjects are brought up in the course of a conversation, or unless some stimulus in the environment arouses them.

For instance, the individual might be talking along normally enough when he or she hears the sirens of a police car in the distance.  Instantly the person might leap up, convinced that that was evidence of the pursuit of the FBI or other agency.

The car with the siren might disappear, yet the alarmed person’s attitude and actions may very well instantly cause his or her companion to realize that something was clearly amiss.  The disturbed person may immediately begin a long tirade, describing pervious episodes in which he or she was hunted from city to city.  There may be further complications, in which the person insists that phones were bugged, letters opened, and privacy was constantly invaded.

This might be the very first sign to the person’s companion that anything was wrong at all.  In most such instances the tirade will continue for some time, while in other far lesser episodes it might instead simply leap to disordered, confused thoughts about being so pursued.  Or instead, the individual might embark upon a rather heated discussion of police forces in general.

In actuality, people in those circumstances are often so frightened of the use of power that the idea of being under constant surveillance actually lends them a sense of protection.

The point is, that in such circumstances the person will try to use evidence from the outside world to provide that he is indeed being pursued.

In the same fashion, the person who hallucinates the voice of God or a demon actually does so to preserve the idea of sanity in his own mind.  As long as he or she believes that a god or demon is involved, then the person can consider the entire affair most extraordinary, decidedly apart from usual experience, but valid.

If the therapist tries to convince such a person that the hallucinated personage does not exist, then this threatens the person’s concepts of personal sanity.

The Way Toward Health - June 20, 1984

June 20, 1984

Before we continue, I would like to remind the reader that in the middle of these or any of the other problems we have been discussing, there may be a period of depression, or the feeling that one’s own problem has no solution after all.

Whenever this occurs, the steps I have given before should be followed.  Briefly, immediately refuse to worry about the future or the past.  Tell yourself you can worry another time if you want to – but for the moment you will not be concerned about the past or the future.

Remind yourself that for all you might have read, or heard, or deduced earlier, it is certainly not inevitable that all unfortunate situations take the darkest of tones, and that indeed the opposite is true; for if such were the case, the world and all of life would have literally been destroyed through disasters and calamities.

Concentrate upon the present moment – but more, concentrate upon the most pleasant aspects of the present moment.  If that moment has distracting, unfavorable aspects, then resolutely bring into your mind whatever images delight or please you at the moment.  These may be very simple.  Remember the smell of lilacs, for example, or try to hear the crisp crunch of snow, or try to visualize an ocean or lake.  All of these procedures will serve to quiet your mind and body, and build up your own reserves.

This is an excellent policy to follow, because you can start it wherever you are.  It will help alleviate fears and doubts at least momentarily, so that then you can pursue the entire issue later, with more assurance.

Chapter 13: “Messages” from Gods, Demons, Heroes, and Other Prominent Persons – or, More Conflicting Beliefs

Conflicting beliefs about the nature of reality can bring about dilemmas in almost any form, for the individual will always try to make sense out of his or her surroundings, and try to at least see the world as a cohesive whole.

Some of the most complicated ways of trying to put conflicting beliefs together are often mental or emotional ones.  The more incohesive the individual feels the world to be, the greater his or her efforts will be expanded in an attempt to put the world back together.

Some people possess beliefs that are so in opposition to each other that they are forced into some of the most complicated mental or emotional footwork.  Their problem will seem so gigantic that only some interference from an outside source will be sufficient to give the individual a sense of wholeness and sanity.  A person may become so frightened of using his or her own power of choice or action that the construction of an artificial superbeing is created – a seemingly sublime personage who gives orders to the individual involved.

Again, let’s use a hypothetical case – this time of a man named Donald.

Donald may be so terrified of making choices, so indecisive, that he constructs an imaginary superbeing who orders him to do thus and so.  If a decision comes up on a job, for example, then the superbeing will order Donald to take one course or another.  Donald has given up accepting responsibility for his actions.  This imaginary personage may say that it is God, or a famous hero from the present or the past, or Jesus Christ, or Mohammed, and the personality involved will be quite certain that such is the case.

Donald, for example, may hear the hallucinated voice of the god or hero.  The voice may be so frequent that it becomes highly distracting, or it may only appear in times of undue stress.

Again, we are starting out with a fairly simple picture.  Our friend might also be convinced that he himself is evil, unworthy, or even depraved, the lowest of men or women.  In such circumstances an individual might then construct an artificial devil or demon who annoys him constantly, and even orders acts of a highly destructive nature.

The individual, like Donald, has also given up the responsibility for his own choices, and feels that he or she cannot be held responsible for any destructive acts that might be committed.

Any of the two kinds of personalities mentioned might also begin to feel persecuted, chased, or harassed by some outside agency.  Among the agencies chosen, of course, are the FBI, the CIA, the Russian Secret Police, the Ku Klux Klan, or any controversial group given to acts of violence for whatever purposes.

Sometimes such episodes last for long periods of time, but they can also appear for just several days, clear up spontaneously, and return again perhaps years later.

The Way Toward Health - June 19, 1984

June 19, 1984

Thus far we have been dealing with conflicting beliefs, however – and most of those can be tackled in the context of this life alone.

These beliefs may have physical or mental repercussions, though in most cases the two do not occur at once.  We have dealt with some of the numerous physical dilemmas that can result.  In other instances, the individual encounters the difficulties on mental or emotional levels.  One portion of the personality might be whole-heartedly in favor of good expression of personal power, and be stimulated to express and use his or her energy and strength.  Another portion of the personality may be just as terrified of power or its uses as the other segment exults in it.

Instead of developing physical complications, in usual terms, sometimes one portion of the personality actually does act with assurance, power, and energy, while another equally valid portion refuses to use energy or power in any way whatsoever.  The ideas are so opposing, and such equal adversaries, that the conscious personality can hardly bear to be aware of both at once.

In such cases, while one portion of the personality is expressing itself, and in command of the usual conscious abilities, the other portion lies acquiescent, latent, and unexpressed.

The individual may act purposefully, with power, energy, and strength, for varying lengths of time.  Then sometimes without warning the frightened, inactive portion of the personality will take over the normal abilities of consciousness – acting depressed, taciturn, and communicating very poorly with others.

One portion of the personality will carry on conscious behavior – go to work, shop, or whatever, while the other portion of the personality will not remember performing those acts at all.

Take a hypothetical case.  Call Norma A the assertive part of the personality, and Norma B the passive partner.  Norma A may go out dancing, go to a bar, then turn the entire proceedings over to Norma B, who finds herself in noisy surroundings, surrounded by people she does not remember, and with no idea how she reached her present destination.

Her trend of memory will go back to the last time that she was in charge of consciousness, and she will have – or may not have – any idea of the existence of Norma A at all.  Norma A may enjoy action, sports, dancing and bodily activities, while Norma B may prefer reading, walking, or painting.

Such personalities may even have separate sets of friends – Norma A and B each having their own companions.  Though these personalities may seem so divergent, they are connected with each other, however, and they may on occasion set up their own rather bizarre kind of communication.  They may write mysterious notes to each other, leaving them where they are bound to be found – yet notes using a special code or symbols or drugs, because too clear a communication would disrupt the entire relationship.

People may actually carry on such existences for years, until some event or another shows that something is amiss: one of Norma A’s friends might meet a friend of Norma B, for example, or the gaps in memory might finally become so frequent that it is obvious something is wrong.

Norma A and B represent fairly simple examples of schizophrenic behavior, and indeed I have kept the story simple to keep the issues clear.  Norma A may actually grow into a more and more assertive or belligerent personality, even displaying violent tendencies at times, while on the other hand Norma B might become even more timid, depressed, and solitary.

On other levels, however, each one is well aware of the other’s presence, and on those levels they do react to each other’s activities.  This means, of course, that the entire amnesia process, regardless of how perfect it seems, is a surface one.  I have used the different beliefs about power as an example, but any belief may be involved if it and its opposite are held in nearly equal weight.

One portion may believe that sex is natural and good, while the other portion believes vehemently that sex is evil and depraved.  Here we will use a man for a hypothetical case.  Joe A may be an excellent husband, bread-winner, and father, a church-goer who believes in the beauty and goodness of sex.  Joe B may hold the opposite viewpoint most intently – that sex is at least evil, perhaps sent by the devil, and below or beneath the dignity of a good man.

On topside Joe A may go to church frequently, be kind and considerate to his family, and say, come home from work every night for supper.  He may carry on a fruitful accomplished existence for varying lengths of time.

Then, however, perhaps with no warning, he may suddenly refuse to make love with his wife, become hostile with his children, stop off for a few drinks after work, before supper, or even begin seeing a prostitute, or begin an affair – often with a woman he considers beneath his own station.

Joe A may be quite startled to discover bottles of whiskey lying around in his dresser drawers, when he hardly drinks liquor himself at all.  Joe B may suddenly “come to” in a strange bedroom, in a compromising position with a woman it certainly seems to him he has never seen before in his life.

On the other hand, Joe B may find himself in the middle of a family picnic, or other gathering – events that bore and displease him – or worse, he may not even remember his family at all.  The more complicated such dilemmas become, the harder they are to keep secret, however, because their very complications multiply the chances of discovery.  And there are, of course, variations.

Joe B, while drinking, might suddenly be sent back to his Joe A self.  The kinds of communication can be very unique and bewildering, ranging from number codes to nonsense verses, or to the hearing of imaginary voices, which serve to remind one portion of the self that there is also another seemingly alien personality involved in his or her existence.

In many instances, very strong feelings of persecution and paranoia can be involved, but these will be discussed in the following chapter.

In the kind of schizophrenic behavior we have just been discussing, hypnosis is frequently used as therapy, often in an attempt not only to introduce the two levels of the personality to each other, but also to uncover the time they originally split off in such a fashion.

While hypnosis can be of considerable value in the hands of an excellent professional hypnotist, it still has serious drawbacks as a treatment under these conditions.  Because of its very nature, hypnosis can end up segmenting the personality still further.

Under such therapy, it sometimes seems that new, lesser personality fragments are uncovered, but it is very possible that these instead are created by the therapy itself.  The hypnotist obviously wants to cure his patient, and all forms of schizophrenia are intellectually intriguing.  The segments of the personality that are involved are being given great attention, and they may seize upon that attention, seeking ways to further dazzle the hypnotist while at the same time sabotaging recovery.

It is far better to address whatever personality is in prominence during the session, to convince it of the therapist’s concern and interest, while letting it know that at other levels it is quite aware of the existence of its other segments.

People with schizophrenic difficulties often enjoy word games and puzzles, so they may well use these to confuse any therapist.  The very fact that such a person considers any kind of therapy does mean that he or she is ready to tackle a considerable challenge.  It can be put to each segment of the personality, then, that it will be quite a challenge for each to become aware of the other.  You might compare the situation to someone who has been separated from a sister or brother for years – explaining, however, that the separation is psychological and not physical.

In a fashion, all of these activities are variations of others.  Instead of forming such segmented selves, another person, as mentioned earlier, might enjoy the use of power, yet be so frightened of it that he or she experiences an epileptic episode instead of a schizophrenic one.

Before we return to a discussion of other physical dilemmas, we will discuss some further unusual psychological events, and their connections with conflicting beliefs.

The Way Toward Health - June 18, 1984

June 18, 1984

The reincarnational heritage is rich, however, and it can have a tendency to assert itself under certain conditions.

I am not speaking of usual, but fairly unusual events, when, in one fashion or another, reincarnational memory seems to bleed through to the present life.  Again, this is not usual experience.  It happens infrequently.  On some occasions – sometimes in periods of poor health or seeming senility – such instances may occur.  They are more apt to happen in adolescence, though I do want to stress that we are speaking of extraordinary cases.

Old people often begin to exercise their own consciousness in ways that they had not done earlier.  There may be less diversions to take up their thoughts.  They may be lonely, and then quite surprisingly find themselves casting about for different kinds of experience – experience seemingly most difficult to achieve in the physical world under their present circumstances.

Since they are often frightened and unsure of the future, they are more apt to cast their thoughts backwards into their early childhoods, reaching for their earliest memories, and mentally try to gain comfort from the remembered sounds of beloved voices, only to mentally glimpse other images than they expected, or to hear other voices than those for which they yearned.

In fact, fragments of many episodes from many other lives may rush into their consciousness, and in most cases they are, of course, quite unprepared for the experience.  On the other hand, usually such episodes are highly reassuring, for along with them rides the inner assurance that life has been lived before, many times.

The individuals involved may then return to normal consciousness, but if they talked or muttered while the affair was happening, any observers might take it for granted that delirium was involved.  Drugs should not be prescribed under those conditions, unless the patient becomes highly restless and confused, and requests them.  In most cases, however, the experiences do not leave any detrimental side effects.

The same kind of event may happen in periods of poor health, or in over-drugged states.  They are less easily handled, however, under drugged conditions, since the consciousness does not have the full agility to depend upon in periods of stress – unusual stress.  The same can occur in adolescence, and easily be misinterpreted as a schizophrenic episode.

This happens perhaps more frequently than the other cases mentioned, but usually such events are not repeated.  They remain only as memories, having opened up the person’s mind to larger visions of life than he or she may have entertained before.

The Way Toward Health - June 17, 1984

June 17, 1984

Each life influences each other life, and some portion of the personality retains memory not only of past lives, but of future lives also.

When reincarnational studies are embarked upon, on occasion people remember some instances of past-life experience, but conventional ideas of time are so strong that so-called future memory is blacked out.

The inner self is aware of all of your existences, in other words.  It sees where and how your many lives fit together.  It is only because you are so oriented outward from birth that this inner self sometimes seems alien or distant and unrelated to the self that you know.  It would be impossible to be consciously aware of all of the infinitesimal details that exist in even one life; your consciousness would be so full and cluttered up that you would be unable to make choices, or to use free will.

It would be even more difficult to try to handle the information of many lives at one time.  In your terms, “it” takes time to think, and you would be so caught up in thinking itself, that action would be impossible.  The inner knowledge of all of your lives, from your point of view, is in the same category as those automatic processes that underlie your existence.

That is, you know about your other lives, basically, in the same way that you know how to breathe or digest your food.  A different kind of knowing is involved.

This does not mean that all conscious knowledge about your own reincarnational existences is forever beyond you – for through various exercises you can indeed learn to recall some of that information.  It does mean, however, that you are innately aware of all of your existences, and that the knowledge gained in one life is automatically transferred to another, whether that life be present, past, or future.

You may therefore be trying out many different kinds of experiences, sometimes endowing yourself with super attributes and strengths, relying upon the body’s powers above all other considerations, while at the same time in another life you use and develop unusual mental abilities, enjoying the triumphs of creative thought, while largely ignoring the body’s agility and strength.

I do not mean to imply that you necessarily deal with opposite kinds of behaviors, for there are endless variances – each unique – as consciousness expresses itself through physical sensation, and attempts to explore all of the possible realms of emotional, spiritual, biological, and mental existence.

I want to stress that within each life full free will operates once the conditions of that life are set.

That is, if you have been born in poor or depressed circumstances, then free will will not alter the conditions of that birth.

It can help you become wealthy in adult life through the choices that you make.  It should be helpful, and certainly somewhat comforting, to realize that even unfortunate birth conditions were not forced upon you by some outside agency, but chosen at inner levels of your own reality.

The same applies to almost any situation.  Religion holds some ideas that are in complete opposition to each other in regard to the nature of suffering in general.  Some believe that suffering is a punishment sent by God for past or present sins, or even omissions, while other religious schools insist that suffering is sent by God as evidence of his particular love for the individual involved: “God must love you very much, because he sent you so much suffering.”

That remark and similar ones, are often made to ill persons.  The idea is supposed to be that suffering is good for the soul, is a way of atoning for one’s sins, and in some fashion the implication is made that such suffering in this life will be more than compensated for in heaven.

Such concepts encourage individuals to feel like victims, with no control at all over the conditions of their own lives.

Instead, it should be realized that as uncomfortable as suffering is, it does somehow have a meaning in the context of your entire existence – again, that it was not thrust upon you by some unjust or uncaring exterior force or nature.

To some degree, that kind of understanding can help alleviate suffering itself to some extent.  I am not advocating a fatalistic approach either, that says more or less: “I have chosen such and such an unfortunate condition at some level I do not understand, and therefore the entire affair is outside of my own hands.  There is nothing I can do about it.”

For one thing, again, almost all situations, including the most drastic, can be changed for the better to some extent, and the very attempt to do so can increase a person’s sense of control over his or her own circumstances.  This does not mean that those situations can be changed overnight in usual terms (though ideally that is also possible), but that the sense of control over one’s life encourages all of the mental and physical healing properties.

In terms of “starting over” at such a point, the main thing to remember is not to expect too much too fast, while recognizing that instantaneous cures are indeed probabilities.

Again, mind games, the insertion of humor and diversion, are extremely valuable, so that you are not trying too hard.  Some people try too hard to be spontaneous, while others are frightened of spontaneity itself.  The knowledge of reincarnational lives is spontaneously held, and you can receive profound insights from that knowledge.  This occurs when you are not looking for it, but when you are familiar enough with the entire concept, so that you realize such knowledge is available.

The Way Toward Health - June 16, 1984

June 16, 1984

In actuality, all of the seemingly erratic genetic variances that often crop up in human development are vital to the elasticity of the entire genetic system.

It would not be beneficial, for example, to try to “breed out” those seemingly unfortunate, divergent genetic traits.  The physical system would become too rigid, lose the power of its natural diversity, and eventually bring a dead-end to human survival.

There is hardly any danger of that possibility, however, since it would be nearly impossible to perform such a task even with the most developed of technologies – and indeed, the very attempt to do so might well immediately trigger a response on the part of the whole genetic system, so that new divergences appeared with even greater frequency, as compensation.

There are individuals who do choose ahead of time – in one lifetime or another – to accept such a divergent genetic heritage for their own reasons – often to experience life from one of its most unique aspects, and sometimes in order to encourage the growth of other abilities that might not otherwise occur.

Human consciousness normally experiences wide sweeps of rhythms, varying states of awareness, and its amazing flexibility is partially dependent upon its lack of rigidity, its own spontaneous inclinations, and its capacity for curiosity, wonder, discovery, and emotion.

It is not too frequently noticed, but many so-called mentally deficient people possess their own unique learning abilities – that is, often they learn what they do learn in a different manner than most other people.  Many possess abilities that are not discovered by others, that are most difficult to explain.  They may utilize chemicals in a different way than other people do in the learning process itself.  Some may even have superior understanding of physical and psychological space.  Their qualifications emotionally are also quite advanced, and it is quite possible that they are gifted in terms of mathematics and music, though these gifts may never come to fruition, since they are unsuspected.

Many deficient individuals in their way are as vital to the development of humanity as geniuses are, for both preserve the elastic nature of human consciousness, and promote its coping qualifications.

Each person makes his or her own reality, again, but each family member also shares the reality of the others.  Often, therefore, instances of unusual genetic differences may also serve to bring out qualities of understanding, sympathy, and empathy on the part of family members – and those qualities also are vital to human development. Because the reasons for any such conditions can be so diverse, then life should be encouraged even in the face of deformities.  If the consciousness involved has its own reasons for living, then it will make the most of even the most dire conditions.  If instead the consciousness has been kept alive despite its own intents through medical procedures, it will terminate its own physical life in one way or another.

It would seem that infants have no belief systems, and therefore could not be in charge of their own realities in any way.  As mentioned earlier, however, the cells of the body themselves possess an equivalent in those biological leanings toward health and development.  Even in cases where physical survival might seem pointless, it is also possible for the organism to alter its course to an extraordinary degree.

Children who are labeled mentally deficient or even called idiots, can often grow and develop far beyond medical science’s suppositions – particularly if they are aided by loving parents who constantly provide stimulation and interest.

This is not to say that all such children should be cared for at home, or that parents should feel guilty if they are forced through circumstances to place their offspring in an institution.  The intuition of the parents, however, will often direct the most proper course in each individual case.  If it is understood that there is indeed a reason behind such circumstances, then that realization alone can help ease the parent’s burden, and help them decide which course to take in their own particular case.

The Way Toward Health - June 15, 1984

Chapter 12: Early Instances of Death or Disease in Relationship to Further Reincarnational Influences

June 15, 1984

Before we discuss other varieties of health and illness as they more ordinarily appear, I want to bring up the subject of more or less extraordinary conditions – dilemmas of body or mind in early life that often seem to have no cause or meaning.

The universe is meaningful or it is not.  Since the universe is indeed meaningful, then there must be a reason and a cause even for conditions that appear chaotic, cruel, or grotesque.  Even in such cases, however, at some extent or another the individual can indeed start over – or at least those closest to the person in question can begin to see a larger framework of existence in which even the most dire of physical circumstances are somehow redeemed.

In many cases, it is the parents of such offspring who suffer more than their children, since it seems as if such families were unjustly saddled with the most unfortunate woes.

We hope to explain this larger framework of existence still further, for indeed it also affects the human condition in all of its aspects.

As I said before, the reasons for most physical, mental, spiritual, or emotional problems can be found in this one lifetime, and because of the nature of simultaneous time, new beliefs in the present can also affect those in the past.

In a basic way, it is possible for present beliefs to actually modify the beliefs of a life that is seemingly a past one.  I must explain again that all lives are lived at once – but in different kinds of focuses.  Your conventional ideas of time make it simpler, however, to speak of one life as happening before or after another.

Again, no one is punished for crimes committed in a past life, and in each life you are unique.  The inner intelligence within you that gives you each life also gives you the conditions of each life.  It certainly seems to you, or to many of you, that most people would always choose to be born healthy and whole, in an excellent environment, of parents with loving natures and genetic excellence – and in other words to grow up healthy, wealthy, and wise.

Life, however, is far too profound and multitudinous, and requires great depths of emotional response and action that could never be satisfied adequately by any given set of circumstances, however favorable.

The species is filled with a powerful sense of curiosity and wonder, and the need for exploration and discovery, so that even a man born as a king through several lives would find himself bored and determined to seek out a different or opposite experience.

In some lives, then, you are born in fortunate circumstances, and in others you may find an environment of poverty and want.  You may be born in excellent health in one life, with a high intelligence and great wit, while in still another existence you may be born ill or crippled or mentally deficient.

It also seems that each fetus must naturally desire to grow, emerge whole from its mother’s womb, and develop into a natural childhood and adulthood.  However, in those terms, just as many fetuses want the experience of being fetuses without following through on other stages.  They have no intention of growing into complete human development.  In fact, many fetuses explore that element of existence numberless times before deciding to go on still further, and emerge normally from the womb.

Those fetuses that do not develop still contribute to the body’s overall experience, and they feel themselves successful in their own existences.  An understanding of these issues can greatly help throw light on the question of early deaths and diseases, and spontaneous abortions.

These are all part of the continuous undercurrents of life, and the same issues apply to many other species whose offspring are lost in every early life.

This is not an uncaring universe or nature operating, but portions of consciousness who choose at whatever levels certain experiences that nourish the living environment, and bring satisfactions that may never show on life’s surface.

In the case of human beings, however, many questions certainly rise to the fore.  I do not want to generalize, for each living situation is too unique for that.  I do want to point out that all fetuses do not necessarily intend to develop into normal babies, and that if medical science, through its techniques, ends up in directing a normal birth, the consciousness of the child may never feel normally allied with physical experience.

The child may go from one illness to another, or simply display an odd disinclination for life – a lack of enthusiasm, until finally in some cases the child dies at an early age.  Another individual, under the same circumstances, might change its mind and decide to go along with the experience of normal life.

It seems unnatural to some people to hear of animals’ mothers who refuse to nurse one offspring, or sometimes even attack it – but in those instances the animal mother is instinctively aware of the situation, and acts to save the offspring from future suffering.

I am not advising that malformed infants be killed, but I do want to point out that even in those most severe cases there is meaning in such conditions, and the consciousness involved then chooses another kind of experience.

There are also perfectly healthy, normal children who have determined ahead of time that they will live only to the threshold of adulthood, happy and flushed with dreams and promises of accomplishments, yet not experiencing any disillusionment or regret or sorrow.  Such young people die of sickness or accident, but go to their deaths like children after a splendid day.  In most instances, they choose quick deaths.

In one way or another, such children may try to describe their feelings to those closest to them, so as to cushion the shock.  Usually these people are not suicides in conventional terms – although they may be.

Perhaps the greatest variances in human behavior show in mental states, and so parents are apt to feel most crushed and despondent if any of their children prove to be what is generally regarded as mentally deficient.  In the first place, the term is a judgment cast by others, and a particular personality may feel quite comfortable in his or her own perception of reality, and only become aware of the difference when confronted by others.  Most such persons are quite peaceful rather than violent, and their emotional experience may indeed cover nuances and depths unknown to normal persons.

Many simply perceive reality from a different focus, feeling a problem out rather than thinking a problem out.

The Way Toward Health - June 14, 1984

June 14, 1984

In these, and all situations, it should be remembered that the body is always trying to heal itself, and that even the most complicated relationships are trying to untangle.

For all of life’s seeming misfortunes, development, fulfillment, and accomplishment far outweigh death, diseases, and disasters.  Starting over can be done – by anyone in any situation, and it will bring about some beneficial effects regardless of previous conditions.

Behind all maladies, in the most basic manner lies the need for expression, and when people feel that their areas of growth are being curtailed, then they instigate actions meant to clear the road, so to speak.

Before health problems show up there is almost always a loss of self-respect or expression.  This loss may occur in the environment itself, in changing social conditions.  In the matter of the disease called AIDS, for example, you have groups of homosexuals, many “coming out of the closet” for the first time, taking part in organizations that promote their cause, and suddenly faced by the suspicions and distrust of many other portions of the population.

The struggle to express themselves, and their own unique abilities and characteristics drives them on, and yet is all too frequently thwarted by the ignorance and misunderstanding that surrounds them.  You end up with something like a psychological contagion.  The people involved begin to feel even more depressed as they struggle to combat the prejudice against them.  Many of them almost hate themselves.  For all their seeming bravado, they fear that they are indeed unnatural members of the species.

These beliefs break down the immunity system, and bring about the symptoms so connected with the disease.  AIDS is a social phenomenon to that extent, expressing the deep dissatisfactions, doubts, and angers of a prejudiced-against segment of society.

Whatever physical changes occur, happen because the will to live is weakened.  AIDS is a kind of biological protest, as if symbolically the homosexuals are saying: “You may as well kill us.  We might be better off than the way you treat us now”, or as if it were a kind of suicidal drama in which the messages read: “See to what ends your actions have led us!”

I am not saying that AIDS victims are outright suicides – only that in many instances the will to live is so weakened and a despondency so strong sets in that such individuals often acquiesce, finally, to their own deaths, seeing no room in the future for their own further growth or development.

The attitude even of doctors and nurses toward the handling of such patients shows only too clearly not only their fear of the disease itself, but their fear of homosexuality, which has been considered evil and forbidden by many religions.  Emotions run at top pace in such cases, and the AIDS patients are often shunted away, out of human society.  Often even their friends desert them.  Yet AIDS can be acquired by those who are not homosexuals, but who have similar problems.  It is a great error to segregate some individuals, like some modern colony of lepers.

Homosexuals can benefit from the ideas in this book, particularly if small groups get together, examining their own beliefs, and reinforcing their will to live, their right to live, and the basic integrity of their being.

Any anger or hostility should also be expressed, however, while not being overly concentrated upon.

Many other diseases that seem to be spread by viruses or contagions are also related to the problems of society in the same manner, and when those conditions are righted the diseases themselves largely vanish.  It should be remembered that it is the beliefs and feelings of the patients that largely determine the effectiveness of any medical procedures, techniques, or medications.

Unfortunately, the entire picture surrounding health and disease is a largely negative one, in which even so-called preventative medicine can have severe drawbacks, since it often recommends drugs or techniques to attack a problem not only before the problem emerges, but simply in case it may emerge.

Many of the public-health announcements routinely publicize the specific symptoms of various diseases, almost as if laying out maps of diseases for medical consumers to swallow.  There are many techniques apart from medically conventional ones, such as acupuncture, the laying on of hands, or the work of people who may be known as healers.  The trouble is that these other techniques cannot be monitored sufficiently so that their benefits can be honestly appraised.

The body’s own healing processes are forever active, however – which is why I so strongly advise that they be relied upon along with whatever medical help seems appropriate.  But the individual, even as a patient, must always have a choice, and have the right to refuse any treatment being suggested.

The main issue is always the vital importance of the individual’s belief systems, however, and the sense of worth he or she places on body and mind.

We have been dealing with quite drastic diseases, but the same concepts are true in other areas also.  There are people who undergo a series of highly unsatisfactory relationships, for example, while another person might experience a series of recurrent diseases instead.  In spite of all problems, the life force operates continually in each person’s life, and can bring about at any time the most profound, beneficial changes.  The idea is to clear the mind as much as possible from beliefs that impede the fine, smooth workings of the life force, and to actively encourage those beliefs and attitudes that promote health and the development of all aspects of healing experience.

The Way Toward Health - June 13, 1984

June 13, 1984

Again, every effort should be made to insert humor into the living situation as much as possible.

The patient might begin to collect jokes, for example, or funny cartoons from magazines and newspapers.  Watching comedies on television will help – and so, in fact, will any distraction that is pleasing to the patient.

Crossword puzzles and other word games will also benefit, even if only done mentally.  It might also be advisable for the patient to take up some completely new field of knowledge – to learn a language, for instance, or to study whatever books possible in any field to which he or she is attracted.

The more actively and fully such a diversion can be indulged, the better, of course, and yet the mental playing of games can be quite fruitful, and serve to give the conscious mind a needed rest.

Everything should be done to insure that the patient is given a hand in whatever physical treatment is involved.  He or she should be enlightened enough through doctor-patient discussions to make choices about the treatment.  In some cases, however, patients will make it clear that they prefer to hand over all responsibility for treatment to the doctor, and in such instances their decisions should be followed.  It is a good idea for the doctor to question the patient sometimes, to make sure that the decision is not one of the moment alone.

Whenever possible, it is far better for the patient to remain home, rather than live steadily at a hospital.  When hospitalization is required, however, family members should try to act as honestly and openly as possible.  It is a good idea for such family members to join other groups of people who are in the same situation, so that they can express their own doubts and hesitations.

Some family members, in fact, may be quite surprised by a barrage of unexpected reactions.  They may find themselves furious at the patient for becoming ill, and then develop unfortunate guilt feelings over their own first reactions.  They may feel that their lives are being disrupted through no cause of their own, yet be so ashamed of such feelings that they dare not express them.

A therapist or a group of other people facing the same problem can therefore be of great assistance.  The patient may also feel abandoned by God or the universe, and may feel unjustly attacked by the disease, thus arousing a whole new tumult of anger, and it is most important that the anger be expressed, and not repressed.

Such a person might imagine his or her anger or fury filling up inside of a gigantic balloon that is then pricked by a needle, exploding in pieces from the pressure within, with debris falling everywhere – out over the ocean, or caught up by the wind, but in any case dispersed in whatever way seems agreeable to the patient.

It is also vital that such people continue to receive and express love.  If the person is mourning the death of a spouse or close family member, then it would be most beneficial for the individual or the family to purchase, or otherwise provide, a new small pet.  The patient should be encouraged to play with the pet as much as possible, and to nourish it, to caress and fondle it.

Often such a procedure will reawaken new stirrings of love, and actually turn around the entire affair.  This is particularly true if one or two beneficial changes simply seem to happen in other areas of life.

The rearousal of love might well activate Framework 2 to such an extent that the healing energies become unblocked, and send their threads of probable actions into the person’s living situation as well – that is, once channels to Framework 2 are open, then new possibilities immediately open up in all of life’s living areas.  And many of these, of course, have a direct bearing on health and healing processes.

The Way Toward Health - June 12, 1984

June 12, 1984

Many cancer patients have martyr like characteristics, often putting up with undesirable situations or conditions for years.

They feel powerless, unable to change, yet unwilling to stay in the same position.  The most important point is to arouse such a person’s beliefs in his or her strength and power.  In many instances these persons symbolically shrug their shoulders, saying “What will happen, will happen”, but they do not physically struggle against their situation.

It is also vital that these patients are not overly medicated, for oftentimes the side effects of some cancer-eradicating drugs are dangerous in themselves.  There has been some success with people who imagine that the cancer is instead some hated enemy or monster or foe, which is then banished through mental mock battles over a period of time.  While the technique does have its advantages, it also pits one portion of the self against the other.  It is much better to imagine, say, the cancer cells being neutralized by some imaginary wand.

Doctors might suggest that a patient relax and then ask himself or herself what kind of inner fantasy would best serve the healing process.  Instant images may come to mind at once, but if success is not achieved immediately, have the patient try again, for in almost all cases some inner pictures will be perceived.

Behind the entire problem, however, is the fear of using one’s full power or energy.  Cancer patients most usually feel an inner impatience as they sense their own need for future expansion and development, only to feel it thwarted.

The fear that blocks that energy can indeed be dissipated if new beliefs are inserted for old ones – so again we return to those emotional attitudes and ideas that automatically promote health and healing.  Each individual is a good person, an individualized portion of universal energy itself.  Each person is meant to express his or her own characteristics and abilities.  Life means energy, power, and expression.

Those beliefs, if taught early enough, would form the most effective system of preventive medicine ever known.

Again, we cannot generalize overmuch, but many persons know quite well that they are not sure whether they want to live or die.  The overabundance of cancer cells represents nevertheless the need for expression and expansion – the only arena left open – or so it would seem.

Such a person must also contend with society’s unfortunate ideas about the disease in general, so that many cancer patients end up isolated or alone.  As in almost all cases of disease, however, if it were possible to have a kind of “thought transplant” operation, the disease would quickly vanish.

Even in the most dire of instances, some patients suddenly fall in love, or something in their home environment changes, and the person also seems to change overnight – while again the disease is gone.

Healing can involve help on many levels, of course.  The world of normal communication I call Framework 1, while Framework 2 represents that inner world, in which indeed all time is simultaneous, and actions that might take years in normal time can happen in the blinking of an eyelid in Framework 2.

Briefly, Framework 1 deals with all the events of which you are normally conscious.

Framework 2 involves all of those spontaneous processes that go on beneath your conscious attention.  When you are very young, your beliefs are quite clear – that is, your conscious and unconscious leanings and expectations are harmonious.  As you grow older, however, and begin to accumulate negative beliefs, then your conscious and unconscious beliefs may be quite different.

Consciously you might want to express certain abilities, while unconsciously you are afraid of doing so.  The unconscious beliefs are not really unconscious, however.  You are simply not as aware of them as you are of normally conscious ones.  Negative beliefs can block the passageways between Framework 1 and Framework 2.  It is an excellent idea for those in any kind of difficulty to do the following simple exercise.

Healing Exercises

Relax yourself as much as possible.  Get comfortable in a chair or on a bed.  Tell yourself mentally that you are an excellent person, and that you want to reprogram yourself, getting rid of any ideas that contradict that particular statement.

Next, gently remind yourself again: “I am an excellent person”, adding: “It is good and safe for me to express my own abilities, for in doing so I express the energy of the universe itself”.

Different phrases with the same meaning may come into your mind.  If so, substitute them for the ones I have given.  There are endless exercises that can be used to advantage, but here I will only mention a few that appear most beneficial.

For another exercise, then, relax yourself as much as possible once more.  If you have some disease, imagine it as particles of dirt.  Tell yourself that you can see inside your body.  You may see streets or boulevards instead of muscles and bones, but go along with the image or images that appear.  Then mentally see yourself sweeping the debris away.  Order trucks to come and carry the garbage to a trash heap, where you may see it burn and disappear in smoke.

Instead of the drama I just outlined, you may instead see invading armies, attacking home troops.  In such a case, see the invaders being driven off.  The pictures you see will follow your own unique leanings and characteristics.

The unconscious levels of the self are only unconscious from your own viewpoint.  They are quite conscious in actuality, and because they do deal with the spontaneous processes of the body, they are also completely familiar with your own state of health and well-being.

These portions can also be communicated with.  Once again, relax yourself as much as possible.  Sit comfortably in a chair or lie on a bed.  A chair is probably preferable, since it is easy to fall off to sleep if you are lying down.  You can refer to these portions of the self altogether as the helper, the teacher, or whatever title suits you best.

Simply make a straightforward request, asking that some picture or image be presented in your inner mind, that will serve as representative of those portions of your inner reality.

So, do not be surprised, for you may see a person, an animal, an insect, or a landscape – but trust whatever image you do receive.  If it seems to be that of a person, or angel, or animal, then ask it to speak to you, and to tell you how best to rid yourself of your disease or problem.

If the image of a landscape appears instead, then ask for a series of such images, that will again somehow point the way toward recovery, or toward the resolution of the problem.  Then follow through with whatever reply you receive.

In all such case, you are opening the doors of Framework 2, clearing your channels of communication.  Since your physical body itself is composed of the very energy that drives the universe, then there is nothing about you which that energy is unaware of.  Simply repeating these ideas to yourself can result in release of tension, and an acceleration of the healing process.

These exercises may suggest others of your own.  If so, follow through on them – but to one extent or another each reader should benefit from some of them.

The Way Toward Health - June 11, 1984

June 11, 1984

The would-be suicide’s problem is usually not one of suppressed rage or anger, it is instead the feeling that there is no room in his or her private life for further development, expression, or accomplishment, or that those very attributes are meaningless.

The will to live has been subverted by the beliefs and attitudes mentioned earlier.

People with life-threatening diseases often feel that further growth, development, or expansion are highly difficult, if not impossible to achieve at a certain point of their lives.  Often there are complicated family relationships that the person does not know how to handle.  To numbers of such individuals, crisis points come and are conquered.  Somehow the person learns to circumnavigate the unpleasant situation, or the conditions change because of other people involved – and presto: the disease itself vanishes.

In all cases, however, the need for value fulfillment, expression, and creativity are so important to life that when these are threatened, life itself is at least momentarily weakened.  Innately, each person does realize that there is life after death, and in some instances such people realize that it is indeed time to move to another level of reality, to die and set out again with another brand-new world.

Often, seriously ill people quite clearly recognize such feelings, but they have been taught not to speak of them.  The desire to die is considered cowardly, even evil, by some religions – and yet behind that desire lies all of the vitality of the will to life, which may already be seeking for new avenues of expression and meaning.

There are those who come down with one serious disease – say heart trouble – are cured through a heart transplant operation or other medical procedure, only to fall prey to another seemingly unrelated disease, such as cancer.  It would relieve the minds of families and friends, however, if they understood that the individual involved did not “fall prey” to the disease, and that he or she was not a victim in usual terms.

This does not mean that anyone consciously decides to get such-and-such a disease, but it does mean that some people instinctively realize that their own individual development and fulfillment does now demand another new framework of existence.

Much loneliness results when people who know they are going to die feel unable to communicate with loved ones for fear of hurting their feelings.  Still, other kinds of individuals will live long productive lives even while their physical mobility or health is most severely impaired.  They will still feel that they had work to do, or that they were needed – but the main thrusts of their beings still reside in the physical universe.

Each person’s purposes are so unique and individualistic that it is quite improper to make any judgments in such matters.  There is also the overall picture, for each family member plays a certain part in the reality of every other member.

A man might die very shortly after his wife’s death, for example.  Regardless of the circumstances, no one should judge such cases, for regardless of the way such a man might die, it would be because the thrust and intent and purpose of his life was no longer in physical reality.

The Way Toward Health - June 10, 1984

June 10, 1984

Unless physical pain is involved, drugs should be avoided – particularly for those in depressive states.

The so-called uppers soon require downers for mood regulation, and the mind ends up in a state of confusion, and often a stupor.  Such drugs should also literally be considered dangerous for use in old-peoples’ homes, for those considered senile, or even demented.  With some variation, these drugs are actually sometimes given to overactive children, where their effects can be very unpredictable, and results in moods that encourage suicidal tendencies, even in those so young.

Many people who use drugs socially are playing a kind of psychological Russian roulette.  Their feelings can run something like this: “If I’m meant to live, these drugs won’t hurt me, and if I’m meant to die, what difference does it make what I take?”  They are taking a certain kind of chance with their own lives, however – those who indulge in such activities – and the stakes can be high.

It is true that some schools of knowledge almost glorify the use of some drugs as encouraging the expansion of consciousness and the release of repression.  In some ancient cultures, drugs were indeed utilized in such a manner, but their use was well understood – and more importantly, their use was socially acceptable.  Those societies were, however, highly ceremonial, and quite as stereotyped in their ways as your culture may seem to you.

Doctors should be extremely cautious in the prescription of mind-altering drugs of any kind, and certainly not encourage their use for people in depressed states.  Under drugs, choices become limited, and certainly people have committed suicide while under the influence of drugs – who may not have otherwise.  I am not saying that drugs alone will cause suicide, but that the psychology of drugs already includes an attitude that promotes a Russian-roulette kind of mentality, that can only add to their problem.

People use drugs also in order to “let go”.  It seems as if some drugs permit an individual to let down barriers of fears and repressions, and to emotionally transcend the problems of daily life.  The fact is, however, that many such people use drugs instead as a kind of chemical blanket that has a tendency to smother rather than relieve.

To “let go” is to trust the spontaneity of your own being, to trust your own energy and power and strength, and to abandon yourself to the energy of your own life.  The word “abandon” itself may strike some readers as particularly strong, but each element of nature abandons itself to the lifeform.  So does each atom of your body.  To abandon yourself, then, to the power of our own life, is to rely upon the great forces within and yet beyond nature that gave birth to the universe and to you.

One of the very first steps toward mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health is precisely that kind of abandonment, that kind of acceptance and affirmation.

The will to live is also inbred into each element of nature, and if you trust your own spontaneity, then that will to be is joyfully released and expressed through all of your activities.  It can also quite literally wash depression and suicidal tendencies away.

Those feelings do indeed encourage expression of consciousness, and release intuitive information that may otherwise be buried beneath tensions and fears.

Such realizations have their own biological effects, stimulating all of the healing properties of the body – and also easily propelling the mind toward “higher” organizations, in which all of life’s seeming inadequacies are understood to be redeemed.

This feeling of abandoning oneself to the power and force of one’s own life does not lead to a mental segregation, but instead allows the self to sense the part that it plays in the creative drama of a universe.  Such understandings often cannot be verbalized.  They are instead perceived or experienced in bursts of pure knowing or sudden comprehension.

The natural world itself is a gateway to other realities.  You do not have to try and blot out the physical world, or your ordinary consciousness, in order to achieve the necessary knowledge that leads to vibrant health or experiences.  In fact, the natural world is itself a part of other realities, and the source of all realities is as present in your existence as in any other.

The more fully you learn to live, the more the seemingly hidden “mysteries of the universe” begin to appear.  They do not necessarily make themselves known with great clamor or fanfare, but suddenly the most innocuous, innocent birdsong or the sight of a leaf might reveal knowledge of the profoundest nature.  It is ironic, then, that many people who seek to discover the “hidden” mysteries of nature ignore nature itself, or consider the physical body as gross or somehow composed of lesser vibrations.

In the case of the suicide, however, we see the opposite attitudes at their most drastic.  To a strong extent, such individuals reject their own lives, and often the conditions of life in general.  Many of them object that they did not want to be born in the first place, and they feel that way because they have so thoroughly repressed the will to life within them.  They also often express a strong feeling of alienation from their parents, friends, family and their fellow men in general.  Along the way, they have forgotten the cooperative, playful ventures of childhood, and the expression of love itself becomes more difficult.

All of the suggestions in this chapter can indeed help break down those habitual thought patterns, however, and if such a person is seeing a therapist, it is an excellent idea if the entire family join in the therapy.

Oftentimes this is financially impossible, but the inclusion of such an individual in some kind of a group situation is an excellent procedure.  Communication between several people, all of whom have contemplated suicide, can also set up an excellent supportive situation, particularly with some direction set by a therapist.  All would-be suicides do not follow through, and many end up leading long and productive lives, so that even when negative ideas are present in their most severe forms, there is still hope for improvement and accomplishment.

Those same unfortunate beliefs, feelings, and attitudes are also present to a lesser degree, and in different mixtures, in the cases of life-endangering diseases.  However, those beliefs may not be nearly as observable, and many people may deny that they are present at all.  They are often triggered, finally, by a traumatic life situation – the death of a spouse or parent, a major disappointment, or any experience that is particularly shocking and disturbing to the particular person involved.

These attitudes are often present in certain cases of cancer, severe heart problems, or other diseases that actually threaten life itself.

In such instances, an understanding of one’s beliefs, and a generation of newer, more biologically vital ones, will certainly serve to better the situation, and help relieve the condition.