- Issue 101 -

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Welcome to Conscious Living, our newsletter designed to share our current activities and growth, along with articles and information that we hope will be supportive and encouraging in your efforts to live each moment with more joy and satisfaction.

In this new issue, we are excited to present the second chapter of "The Third Eye" by T. Lobsang Rampa, a fascinating, controversial and very popular account of the life and esoteric experiences of a Tibetian Monk.  Topics discussed include reincarnation, clairvoyance, yetis and the unknown early history of the earth.

In addition, we are offering the second chapter of "A Romance of Two Worlds" by Marie Corelli.  This best selling Victorian novel explores the relationship between the occult and Christianity, plus a discussion of guardian angels and life after death along with mystery, romance and tragedy.   We look forward to your comments about both novels.

We are also starting a series of selections from Kahlil Gibran's masterpiece, "The Prophet".  We begin with the selection entitled, "On Prayer". 

We are also offering, an article by Paramahansa Yogananda entitled "The Law of Miracles" in which the famous Swami explains how miracles occur along with a detailed discussion of their nature and the circumstances under which they can be controlled.

We continue with our collection of essays by Ernest Holmes, with his thoughts on "The Power of Attraction".  As always, Dr. Holmes' thoughts are empowering and encouraging. 

We also continue our exploration of 12 Step Programs and their ability to support personal and spiritual transformation.  We're pleased to offer two articles for your consideration:  First, "Prayers Related to the 12 Steps" along with "Patterns of Codependence" a fascinating and eye opening introspection tool.

We're also offering several other essays and news articles including "Is Your Family Being Manipulated by the Mass Media"; which contains excellent, detailed suggestions on how to regain control of our television and Internet habits, along with "How Riches Come To You" - a "how to" explanation to increase our prosperity in these challenging economic times. 

As usual, our newsletter also includes an article by one of our most thought-provoking writers, Steve Roberts and his new essay, "The Burial of Grandmother Pony". 

Also, we've gathered together some of our most popular products and are offering them at a special discounts to support your holiday shopping.

Finally, we have added a new recurring "Letters To the Editor" section to our newsletter.  Now is the chance for you to share your thoughts, ideas, experiences, questions and opinions with us and the rest of our readers.  Just send an email to .   We look forward to your emails.  

As always, we are so grateful to all of you who visit our website, and contribute through your generous donations, purchases, emails and article submissions.  Thank you for letting us share this issue of our newsletter with you. 

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Contents:

(If you've missed any past issues of our newsletter, or you'd like to reread an article or affirmation, click Here.)

 

   
Serial:  The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa

CHAPTER TWO

  END OF MY CHILDHOOD

    “Ow ! Yulgye, you are pulling my head off! I shall be as bald as a monk if you don't stop.”    “Hold your peace, Tuesday Lobsang. Your pigtail must be straight and well buttered or your Honourable Mother will be after my skin.”     “But Yulgye, you don't have to be so rough, you are twisting my head off.”     “Oh I can't bother about that, I'm in a hurry.     So there I was, sitting on the floor, with a tough man-servant winding me up by the pigtail ! Eventually the wretched thing was as stiff as a frozen yak, and shining like moonlight on a lake.  Mother was in a whirl, moving round so fast that I felt almost as if I had several mothers. There were last-minute orders, final preparations, and much excited talk. Yaso, two years older than I was bustling about like a woman of forty. Father had shut himself in his private room and was well out of the uproar. I wished I could have joined him !

    For some reason mother had arranged for us to go to the Jo- kang, the Cathedral of Lhasa. Apparently we had to give a religious atmosphere to the later proceedings. At about ten in the morning (Tibetan times are very elastic), a triple-toned gong was sounded to call us to our assembly point. We all mounted ponies: father mother, Yaso, and about five others, including a very reluctant me. We turned across the Lingkhor road, and left at the foot of the Potala. This is a mountain of buildings, four hundred feet high and twelve hundred feet long. Past the village of Sho we went, along the plain of the Kyi Chu, until half an hour later we stood in front of the Jo kang. Around it clustered small houses, shops and stalls to lure the pilgrims. Thirteen hundred years the Cathedral had stood here to welcome the devout.  Inside, the stone floors were grooved inches deep by the passage of so many worshippers. Pilgrims moved reverently around the Inner Circuit, each turning the hundreds of prayer-wheels as they passed, and repeating incessantly the mantra: Om ! Mani padme Hum!     

Huge wooden beams, black with age, supported the roof, and the heavy odour of constantly burning incense drifted around like light summer clouds at the crest of a mountain.  Around the walls were golden statues of the deities of our faith.  Stout metal screens, with a coarse mesh so as not to obstruct the view, protected the statues from those whose cupidity overcame their reverence.  Most of the more familiar statues were partly buried by the precious stones and gems which had been heaped around them by the pious who had sought favours.  Candlesticks of solid gold held candles which burned continually, and whose light had not been extin- guished during the past  thirteen hundred years.  From dark recesses came the sounds of bells, gongs, and the lowing bray of the conches.  We made our circuit as tradition demanded.     

Our devotions completed, we went on to the flat roof.  Only the favoured few could visit here; father, as one of the Custodians, always came.     Our form of governments (yes, plural), may be of interest. At the head of the State and Church, the final Court of Appeal, there was the Dalai Lama.  Anyone in the country could petition him.  If the petition or request was fair, or if an injustice had been done, the Dalai Lama saw that the request was granted, or the injustice rectified.  It is not unreasonable to say that everyone in the country, probably without exception, either loved or revered him. He was an autocrat; he used power and domination, but never did he use these for his own gain, only for the good of the country. He knew of the coming Communist invasion, even though it lay many years ahead, and temporary eclipse of freedom, that is why a very small number of us were specially trained so that the arts of the priests should not be forgotten.     

After the Dalai Lama there were two Councils, that is why I wrote “governments”.  The first was the Ecclesiastical Council. The four members of it were monks of Lama status. They were responsible, under the Inmost One, for all the affairs of the lamaseries and nunneries.  All ecclesiastical matters came before them.     The Council of Ministers came next.  This Council had four members, three lay and one cleric. They dealt with the affairs of the country as a whole, and were responsible for integrating the Church and State.     

Two officials, who may be termed Prime Ministers, for that is what they were, acted as “Liaison Officers” between the two Councils, and put their views before the Dalai Lama.  They were of considerable importance during the rare meetings of the National Assembly.  This was a body of some fifty men representing all the most important families and lamaseries in Lhasa.  They met only during the gravest emergencies, such as in 1904, when the Dalai Lama went to Mongolia when the British invaded Lhasa.  In con- nection with this, many Western people have the strange notion that the Inmost One was cowardly in “running away”.  He did not “run away”.  Wars on Tibet may be likened to a game of chess.  If the king is taken, the game is won.  The Dalai Lama was our “king”. Without him there would be nothing to fight for: he had to go to safety in order to keep the country together.  Those who accuse him of cowardice in any form simply do not know what they are talking about.     

The National Assembly could be increased to nearly four hundred members when all the leaders from the provinces came in. There are five provinces: The Capital, as Lhasa was often called, was in the province of U-Tsang.  Shigatse is in the same district. Gartok is western Tibet, Chang is northern Tibet, while Kham and Lho-dzong are the eastern and southern provinces respectively.  With the passage of the years the Dalai Lama increased his power and did more and more without assistance from the Councils or Assembly.  And never was the country better governed.     

The view from the temple roof was superb.  To the east stretched the Plain of Lhasa, green and lush and dotted with trees.  Water sparkled through the trees, the rivers of Lhasa tinkling along to join the Tsang Po forty miles away.  To the north and south rose the great mountain ranges enclosing our valley and making us seem secluded from the rest of the world.  Lamaseries abounded on the lower levels.  Higher, the small hermitages perched precariously on precipitous slopes.  Westwards loomed the twin mountains of the Potala and Chakpori, the latter was known as the Temple of Medicine.  Between these mountains the Western Gate glinted in the cold morning light.  The sky was a deep purple emphasized by the pure white of the snow on the distant mountain ranges.  Light, wispy clouds drifted high overhead.  Much nearer, in the city itself, we looked down on the Council Hall nestling against the northern wall of the Cathedral. The Treasury was quite near, and surrounding it all were the stalls of the traders and the market in which one could buy almost anything.  Close by slightly to the east, a nunnery jostled the precincts of the Disposers of the Dead.     

In the Cathedral grounds there was the never-ceasing babble of visitors to this, one of the most sacred places of Buddhism.  The chatter of pilgrims who had traveled far, and who now brought gifts in the hope of obtaining a holy blessing.  Some there were who brought animals saved from the butchers, and purchased with scarce money.  There is much virtue in saving life, of animal and of man, and much credit would accrue.     

As we stood gazing at the old, but ever-new scenes, we heard the rise and fall of monks' voices in psalmody, the deep bass of the older men and the high treble of the acolytes. There came the rumble and boom of the drums and the golden voices of the trumpets.  Skirlings, and muffled throbs, and a sensation as of being caught up in a hypnotic net of emotions.     

Monks bustled around dealing with their various affairs.  Some with yellow robes and some in purple.  The more numerous were in russet red, these were the “ordinary” monks.  Those of much gold were from the Potala, as were those in cherry vestments. Acolytes in white, and police monks in dark maroon bustled about.  All, or nearly all, had one thing in common: no matter how new their robes, they almost all had patches which were replicas of the patches on Buddha's robes.  Foreigners who have seen Tibetan monks, or have seen pictures of them, sometimes remark on the “patched appearance”.  The patches, then, are part of the dress. The monks of the twelve-hundred-year-old Ne-Sar lamasery do it properly and have their patches of a lighter shade!     

Monks wear the red robes of the Order; there are many shades of red caused by the manner in which the woolen cloth is dyed. Maroon to brick red, it is still “red”.  Certain official monks employed solely at the Potala wear gold sleeveless jackets over their red robes.  Gold is a sacred colour in Tibet—gold is untarnishable and so always pure—and it is the official colour of the Dalai Lama.  Some monks, or high lamas in personal attendance on the Dalai Lama, are permitted to wear gold robes over their ordinary ones.     

 

As we looked over the roof of the Jo-kang we could see many such gold jacketed figures, and rarely one of the Peak officials. We looked up at the prayer-flags fluttering, and at the brilliant domes of the Cathedral.  The sky looked beautiful, purple, with little flecks of wispy clouds, as if an artist had lightly flicked the canvas of heaven with a white-loaded brush.  Mother broke the spell: “Well, we are wasting time, I shudder to think what the servants are doing.  We must hurry!”  So off on our patient ponies clattering along  thee Lingkhor road, each step bringing me nearer to what I termed “The Ordeal”, but which mother regarded as her “Big Day”.     Back at home, mother had a final check of all that had been done and then we had a meal to fortify us for the events to come. We well knew that at times such as these, the guests would be well filled and well satisfied, but the poor hosts would be empty. There would be no time for us to eat later.       

With much clattering of instruments, the monk-musicians arrived and were shown into the gardens.  They were laden with trumpets, clarinets, gongs, and drums.  Their cymbals were hung round their necks.  Into the gardens they went, with much chatter, and called for beer to get them into the right mood for good playing.  For the next half-hour there were horrible honks, and strident bleats from the trumpets as the monks prepared their instruments.     

Uproar broke out in the courtyard as the first of the guests were sighted, riding in an armed cavalcade of men with fluttering pennants.  The entrance gates were flung open, and two columns of our servants lined each side to give welcome to the arrivals. The steward was on hand with his two assistants who carried an assortment of the silk scarves which are used in Tibet as a form of salutation.  There are eight qualities of scarves, and the correct one must be presented or offense may be implied!  The Dalai Lama gives, and receives, only the first grade.  We call these scarves “khata”, and the method of presentation is this: the donor if of equal rank, stands well back with the arms fully extended.  The recipient also stands well back with arms extended.  The donor makes a short bow and places the scarf across the wrists of the recipient, who bows, takes the scarf from the wrists, turns it over in approval, and hands it to a servant. 

In the case of a donor giving a scarf to a person of much higher rank, he or she kneels with tongue extended (a Tibetan greeting similar to lifting the hat) and places the khata at the feet of the recipient.  The recipient in such cases places his scarf across the neck of the donor.  In Tibet, gifts must always be accompanied by the appropriate khata, as must letters of congratulation.  The Government used yellow scarves in place of the normal white.  The Dalai Lama, if he desired to show the very highest honour to a person, would place a khata about a person's neck and would tie a red silk thread with a triple knot into the khata.  If at the same time he showed his hands palm up—one was indeed honoured.  We Tibetans are of the firm belief that one's whole history is written on the palm of the hand, and the Dalai Lama, showing his hands thus, would prove the friendliest intentions towards one.   In later years I had this honour twice.     

Our steward stood at the entrance, with an assistant on each side.  He would bow to new arrivals, accept their khata, and pass it on to the assistant on the left.  At the same time the assistant on his right would hand him the correct grade of scarf with which to return the salutation.  This he would take and place across the wrists, or over the neck (according to rank), of the guest.  All these scarves were used and reused.     

The steward and his assistants were becoming busy.  Guests were arriving in large numbers.  From neighboring estates, from Lhasa city, and from outlying districts, they all came clattering along the Lingkhor road, to turn into our private drive in the shadow of the Potala.  Ladies who had ridden a long distance wore a leather face-mask to protect the skin and complexion from the grit-laden wind.  Frequently a crude resemblance of the wearer's features would be painted on the mask.  Arrived at her destination, the lady would doff her mask as well as her yak-hide cloak.  I was always fascinated by the features painted on the masks, the uglier or older the woman, the more beautiful and younger would be her mask-features!     

In the house there was great activity.  More and more seat- cushions were brought from the storerooms.  We do not use chairs in Tibet, but sit cross-legged on cushions which are about two and a half feet square and about nine inches thick.  The same cushions are used for sleeping upon, but then several are put together.  To us they are far more comfortable than chairs or high beds.     

Arriving guests were given buttered tea and led to a large room which had been converted into a refectory.  Here they were able to choose refreshments to sustain them until the real party started. About forty women of the leading families had arrived, together with their women attendants.  Some of the ladies were being entertained by mother, while others wandered around the house, inspecting the furnishings, and guessing their value.  The place seemed to be overrun with women of all shapes, sizes, and ages. They appeared from the most unusual places, and did not hesitate one moment to ask passing servants what this cost, or what that was worth.  They behaved, in short, like women the world over. Sister Yaso was parading around in very new clothes, with her hair done in what she regarded as the latest style, but which to me seemed terrible; but I was always biased when it came to women. Certain it was that on this day they seemed to get in the way.     

There was another set of women to complicate matters: the high-class woman in Tibet was expected to have huge stores of clothing and ample jewels. These she had to display, and as this would have entailed much changing and dressing, special girls— “chung girls”— were employed to act as mannequins. They paraded around in mother’s clothes, sat and drank innumerable cups of butter-tea, and then went and changed into different clothing and jewelry.  They mixed with the guests and became, to all intents and purposes, mother's assistant hostesses.  Through- out the day these women would change their attire perhaps five or six times.  The men were more interested in the entertainers in the gardens. A troupe of acrobats had been brought in to add a touch of fun. Three of them held up a pole about fifteen feet high, and another acrobat climbed up and stood on his head on the top.  Then the others snatched away the pole, leaving him to fall, turn, and land cat-like on his feet.  Some small boys were watching, and immediately rushed away to a secluded spot to emulate the performance. They found a pole about eight or ten feet high, held it up, and the most daring climbed up and tried to stand on his head. Down he came, with an awful “crump”, straight on top of the others. However, their heads were thick, and apart from egg-sized bruises, no harm was done.     

Mother appeared, leading the rest of the ladies to see the entertainments, and listen to the music.  The later was not  difficult; the musicians were now well warmed up with copious amounts of Tibetan beer.     For this occasion, mother was particularly well dressed.  She was wearing a yak-wool skirt of deep russet-red, reaching almost to the ankles.  Her high boots of Tibetan felt were of the purest white, with blood-red soles, and tastefully arranged red piping.     Her bolero-type jacket was of a reddish-yellow, somewhat like father's monk robe.  In my later medical days, I should have described it as “iodine on bandage”!  Beneath it she wore a blouse of purple silk.  These colours all harmonized, and had been chosen to represent the different classes of monks' garments.     

Across her right shoulder was a silk brocade sash which was caught at the left side of her waist by a massive gold circlet.  From the shoulder to the waist-knot the sash was blood red, but from that point it shaded from pale lemon-yellow to deep saffron when it reached the skirt hem.     

Around her neck she had a gold cord which supported the three amulet bags which she always wore.  These had been given to her on her marriage to father.  One was from her family, one from father's family, and one, an unusual honour, was from the Dalai Lama.  She wore much jewelry, because Tibetan women wear jewelry and ornaments in accordance with their station in life. A husband is expected to buy ornaments and jewelry whenever he has a rise in status.     

Mother had been busy for days past having her hair arranged in a hundred and eight plaits, each about as thick as a piece of whip-cord.  A hundred and eight is a Tibetan sacred number, and ladies with sufficient hair to make this number of plaits were considered to be most fortunate.  The hair, parted in the Madonna style, was supported on a wooden framework worn on top of the head like a hat.  Of red lacquered wood, it was studded with diamonds, jade, and gold discs.  The hair trailed over it like rambler roses on a trellis.     

Mother had a string of coral shapes depending from her ear. The weight was so great that she had to use a red thread around the ear to support it, or risk having the lobe torn: The earring reached nearly to her waist; I watched in fascination to see how she could turn her head to the left!     

People were walking about, admiring the gardens, or sitting in groups discussing social affairs.  The ladies, in particular, were busy with their talk. “Yes, my dear, Lady Doring is having a new floor laid.  Finely ground pebbles polished to a high gloss.”  “Have you heard that that young lama who was staying with Lady Rakasha...” etc.  But everyone was really waiting for the main item of the day.  All this was a mere warming-up for the events to come, when the priest-astrologers would forecast my future and direct the path I should take through life.  Upon them depended the career 1 should undertake.     

As the day grew old and the lengthening shadows crawled more quickly across the ground, the activities of the guests became slower.  They were satiated with refreshments, and in a receptive mood.  As the piles of food grew less, tired servants brought more and that, too, went with the passage of time.  The hired entertainers grew weary and one by one slipped away to the kitchens for a rest and more beer.     

The musicians were still in fine fettle, blowing their trumpets, clashing the cymbals, and thwacking the drums with gay abandon. With all the noise and uproar, the birds had been scared from their usual roosting places in the trees.  And not only the birds were scared.  The cats had dived precipitately into some safe refuge with the arrival of the first noisy guests.  Even the huge black mastiffs which guarded the place were silent, their deep baying stilled in sleep.  They had been fed and fed until they could eat no more.     

In the walled gardens, as the day grew yet darker, small boys flitted like gnomes between the cultivated trees, swinging lighted butter-lamps and smoke incense censers, and at times leaping into the lower branches for a carefree frolic.     

Dotted about the grounds were golden incense braziers sending up their thick columns of fragrant smoke.  Attending them were old women who also twirled clacking prayer-wheels, each revolution of which sent thousands of prayers heavenwards.  Father was in a state of perpetual fright!  His walled gardens were famous throughout the country for their expensive imported plants and shrubs.  Now, to his way of thinking, the place was like a badly run zoo.  He wandered around wringing his hands and uttering little moans of anguish when some guest stopped and fingered a bud.  In particular danger were the apricot and pear trees, and the little dwarf apple trees.  The larger and taller trees, poplar, willow, juniper, birch, and cypress, were festooned with streams of prayer-flags which fluttered gently in the soft evening breeze.     

Eventually the day died as the sun set behind the far-distant peaks of the Himalayas.  From the lamaseries came the sound of trumpets signaling the passing of yet another day, and with it hundreds of butter-lamps were set alight.  They depended from the branches of trees, they swung from the projecting eaves of the houses, and others floated on the placid waters of the ornamental Lake.  Here they grounded, like boats on a sandbar, on the waterlily leaves, there they drifted towards the floating swans seeking refuge near the island.     

The sound of a deep-toned gong, and everyone turned to watch the approaching procession.  In the gardens a large marquee had been erected, with one completely open side.  Inside was a raised dais on which were four of our Tibetan seats.  Now the procession approached the dais.  Four servants carried upright poles, with large flares at the upper end. Then came four trumpeters with silver trumpets sounding a fanfare.  Following them, mother and father reached the dais and stepped upon it. Then two old men, very old men, from the lamasery of the State Oracle.  These two old men from Nechung were the most experienced astrologers in the country.  Their predictions have been proved correct time after time.  Last week they had been called to predict for the Dalai Lama.  Now they were going to do the same for a seven-year-old boy.  For days they had been busy at their charts and computations. Long had been their discussions about trines, ecliptics, sesquiquadrates, and the opposing influence of this or that.  I will discuss astrology in a later chapter.     

Two lamas carried the astrologers' notes and charts. Two others stepped forward and helped the old seers to mount the steps of the dais.  Side by side they stood, like two old ivory carvings.  Their gorgeous robes of yellow Chinese brocade merely emphasized their age.  Upon their heads they wore tall priests' hats, and their wrinkled necks seemed to wilt beneath the weight.     People gathered around and sat on the ground on cushions brought by the servants.  All gossip stopped, as people strained their ears to catch the shrill, piping voice of the astrologer-in- chief.  “Lha dre mi cho-nang-chig,” he said (Gods, devils, and men all behave in the same way), so the probable future can be foretold. On he droned, for an hour and then stopped for a ten-minute rest. For yet another hour he went on outlining the future. “Ha-le! Ha-le !” (Extraordinary ! Extraordinary !), exclaimed the entranced audience.     

And so it was foretold.  A boy of seven to enter a lamasery, after a hard feat of endurance, and there be trained as a priest-surgeon. To suffer great hardships to leave the homeland, and go among strange people.  To lose all and have to start again, and eventually to succeed.     Gradually the crowd dispersed. Those who had come from afar would stay the night at our house and depart in the morning. Others would travel with their retinues and with flares to light the way.  With much clattering of hooves, and the hoarse shouts of men, they assembled in the courtyard.  Once again the ponderous gate swung open, and the company streamed through.  Growing fainter in the distance was the clop-clop of the horses, and the chatter of their riders, until from without there was the silence of the night.   


Tuesday Lobsang Rampa was a very popular writer who claimed to have been a Lama in Tibet before spending the second part of his life in the body of a British man, Cyril Henry Hoskin, who described himself as the "host" of T. Lobsang Rampa.

To many, Dr. Rampa was a revolutionary of his time, one of the first of the Eastern teachers to bring Buddhism and metaphysics to the West in a popular fashion. He wrote many books about spiritual matters, beginning with "The Third Eye".

Lobsang Rampa attempts to teach the timeless universal truths, while traveling along the spiritual path. Dr. Rampa's books also discuss the state of humanity's progress and he shows how we can be a positive force for good, thus improving ourselves and helping our fellow humans and all sentient beings.

Look for the next chapter in The Third Eye by T. Lobsang Rampa in the next edition of our newsletter or prior chapters in previous editions.  To read other books by T. Lobsang Rampa, visit our free Ebook section by clicking  Here.

 

 

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Essay:  The Power of Attraction                                    by Ernest Holmes                                  

 

ATTRACTION

Every one automatically attracts to himself just what he is, and you may set it down that wherever you are, however intolerable the situation may be, it is just where you belong. There is no power in the Universe but yourself that can get you out of it. Some one may help you on the road to realization, but substantiality and permanence can come only through the consciousness of your own life and thought. Man must bring himself to a point where there is no misfortune, no calamity, no accident, no trouble, no confusion; where there is nothing but plenty, peace, power, Life and Truth. He should definitely, daily, using his own name, declare the Truth about himself, realizing that he is reflecting his statements into Consciousness, and that they will be operated upon by It.

This is called, in mysticism, High Invocation; invoking the Divine Mind; implanting within It seeds of thought relative to one's self. And this is why some of the teachers of older times used to teach their pupils to cross their hands over their chests and say: "Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful me!" definitely teaching them that, as they held themselves, so they would be held. "Act as though I Am and I will Be."

One of the ancient sayings is that, "To the man who can perfectly practice inaction, all things are possible." This sounds like a contradiction until one gets down to the inner teachings; for it is only when one completely practices inaction that he arrives at the point of the true actor. For he then realizes that the act and the actor are one and the same, that cause and effect are the same; which is simply a different way of saying: "Know the Truth and the Truth shall make you free." To reduce the whole thing to its simplest form, whatever one reflects into Mind will be done.

HOW TO DEMONSTRATE A HOME

Suppose you wish to demonstrate a home; daily, looking into Mind, visualize it just as you wish it to be, making the picture as clear as possible; for it is a lack of clearness of thought that hinders demonstration. Then sit there about ten minutes, saying, "It is, it is, it is." Perhaps thoughts will come in which say "that it is not." Pay no attention to such thoughts but return to your meditation, and seeing the picture anew, say again, "It is, it is, it is." Use no effort, but simply see the picture very clearly and declare for its presence.

Never look for results from treatment; for if you do you will not find them. This is in accordance with law, for what you look for you know that you do not have and are only trying to fool yourself into thinking that you do have. Treatment is not a process of hypnotism; it is a process of self- knowing; and if you really know you will be sure to demonstrate.

Treatment is the art, the science and process of systematically inducing within consciousness concepts of definite desires as already accomplished facts and experiences in life.

RESIST NOT

When Jesus said "Resist not evil," He meant that non-recognition of evil is the only way to avoid it. This is true according to the law of cause and effect; for what we persist in recognizing, we persist in holding in place. That which we non-recognize, we neutralize, and it is no longer there, so far

as we are concerned. In making a demonstration, don't try to demonstrate; for demonstrations are not made through effort, because this would contradict one of the fundamental principles of the universe, which is the Self-Existence of Causation. In other words, nothing can come before that which is, consequently everything must come out of that which is; and within that which is, is the inherent possibility of that which is to be. All things exist as a potentiality, as a possibility, now. "I Am Alpha and Omega." Try to get a recognition of your desire and pass the whole thing over to Mind, and let It operate. Just know that the desire is already a fact, and quietly say to yourself, as often as the thought comes into mind: "It is done." The lighter the thought is, the less care or worry over it, the better. The best work is done when the element of struggle is entirely left out.

       

HEALING A MISUNDERSTANDING

Suppose one says: "I have had a terrible misunderstanding with a friend of mine and it has come to a point where we do not even speak to each other." What is the fundamental error which has brought about this condition? A lack of the realization of the Unity of all life, a belief in duality. Destroy this belief in duality; recognize that there is but One Mind; see God in each, and the trouble will be healed. We all live in the One Mind of God.

FATE

If one believes in fate he must be healed of this thought, for there is no such thing as fate. If one believes that planetary forces have anything to do with life he must be healed of this thought. Break down everything except the recognition of the One Perfect Power, which is not contingent upon any place, person, condition, time of year, or anything but Itself. A demonstration is made when it comes through straight from the Truth.

The one who wishes to make a demonstration must first clear up his own subjective atmosphere; the reason being that he may be objectively making statements which his subjective thought may be denying. In this way we often neutralize our word as fast as it is spoken.

A treatment is scientific in that it is the act of inducing into Subjectivity ideas which neutralize false images of thought and which let the Truth come through into expression. The reason that we need such a science is that we do not have a perfect faith; for if we had a perfect faith we would have washed clean the subjective thought and no doubts would be there. Until the time comes when one can say to the sick, "Get up and walk," and have them do so; or say, "There is money," and have it appear, he must take the process of inducing thought for the purpose of accumulating a subjective belief in the things which he desires; this belief, as soon as it is complete, IS THE DEMONSTRATION. The demonstration takes place within and not without.

ATTRACTION OF PERSONALITY

One might say, "I have no personality with which to attract people." There is but One Person; this Person is manifested through every living soul. It is radiant, vibrant, dynamic; It is The Personality; It is Complete; It is, It is.

The ones to whom we are the most strongly attracted are not necessarily the ones who are the most beautiful physically; but are the ones from which we receive that subtle emanation, "that something." What is "that something"? It is not that which shows, but that which floats through from within. It is the inner recognition of Reality.


The Conscious Living Foundation is proud to offer its recording of one of Ernest Holmes most famous books, "Creative Mind and Success".  To learn more about the recording and hear several FREE selections on such topics as:

- How to attract friends
- An affirmation on love
- The power of words
     - Old age and opportunity
      - Money as a spiritual idea
           - How to know just what to do
                                     - Developing Intuition
                                      - What we will attract

Just click Here.
 

We are also pleased to announce the recent release of "Affirmations of Ernest Holmes" - a collection of 20 of Dr. Holmes' most powerful and effective affirmations and treatments.  Each of the affirmations was designed by him to create the best mental attitude and sense of feeling that will promote positive change according to the subject matter of the affirmation.

The affirmations cover a wide range of topics from healing and excellent health, to increased abundance and prosperity, to a greater sense of unity and oneness with Spirit.  These affirmations have been practiced by hundreds of thousands of people for decades and have been found to work with great effectiveness.

To hear several free samples from this wonderful recording, please click Here.
 

If you enjoy our inspirational stories and articles, be sure to visit our website for more:
Articles on Personal Growth, Health and Positive Change - Click Here.
Inspiring Stories - Click Here.
Affirmations - Click Here.
Spiritual Poems - Click Here.

 

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Affirmation:  (Selection from The Conscious Word Daily Affirmation)                       

        

My desire in the heart for anything

is God’s sure promise sent beforehand

that it is mine,

already in the realm of supply,

and whatever I desire,

I can have for the taking.

 

 

(The preceding is a selection from our daily affirmation, emailed directly to you each morning, called The Conscious Word.  You can obtain more information and view a sample issue by clicking Here.) 

 

News A New Collection of Bath and Body Products

The Conscious Living Foundation is pleased to announce a new collection of healthy bar soaps, "SoapOne" - soap products with spirit.  Available now at a special introductory price.

SoapOne products are designed with harmony and beauty in mind.  One hundred percent vegetable soap with essential oils - the primary ingredients are: Palm Nut Oil, Palm Oil, and Palm Butter.  Our new products are circular in shape and come in four unique flavors:  Allure, Bloom, Reflection and Serenade.  To find out more, click Here.  
 

To see our full line of soaps, body scrubs, hand creams, room sprays and body creams, please click Here.

To visit the Bath and Body section of our catalog, which contains a wide variety of Bath Gift Sets, Perfumes, Women's Pajamas, Bathroom Decor Sets, Pillows, Head and Hair products and Cosmetics - please click Here.

 

 

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Essay:  The Burial of Grandmother Pony               by Steve Roberts

When our beautiful grandmother pony became sick and died in a day recently, we were faced with our first horse burial.  This meant calling our neighbor Peter Dodge to dig a hole and place grandmother in it.  Peter is about as kind a fellow as you’ll ever meet.  He’s also a master of the backhoe, probably able to tickle your chin with its toothy bucket as easily as he can lay a water line to specs.  Still, this job was about a lot more than moving some earth no matter how precisely.  This was a sacred event: the burial of a being whose nose on your heart could solve more problems than the United Nations; a former dressage queen on whose Barcalounger back so many of the children who visit our farm have felt a confidence and joy they experience nowhere else.  That morning, as usual, 34 year old grandmother ate her grain with lip-smacking enthusiasm then stepped out of her stall for a day of grazing.  Within an hour she was in distress: colic, an intestinal blockage that is right up there in the horse owner’s book of nightmares.  By eleven the prognosis was bleak.  By one we walked her to the apple tree in her paddock, where we planned to bury her.  We kissed her goodbye and whispered our love as she was put down.  We called Peter.  While I don’t have strong opinions on what happens to my corpse when I die (it is, after all, just a spaceship that carries me around for a few years), the prospect of grandmother’s 800 pound carcass being manhandled, even inadvertently, as it was ‘laid to rest’ sparked feelings of dread.  Wouldn’t you know, the universe used the occasion to introduce me, yet again, to the essence of life, this time through the meaning of conservation.

Over the past couple of months I’ve spent hours chatting with Alec Webb, the delightful president of Shelburne Farms, an institution that, in the past 30 years, has become one of the world’s great exemplars of conservation and sustainability, comprising 1400 stunning acres on the shore of Lake Champlain here in Vermont. 

According to the patron saint of conservation, the late Aldo Leopold [1887-1948], conservation is humankind’s effort to understand and preserve the capacity of the land to renew itself—leading to a state of harmony between man and land. 

That harmony from a slightly larger perspective (beyond land alone) is the principle of sustainability: the practice of meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Among the traffic signs in my head is a refrain from Gandhi: “All virtue ceases to have use if it serves no purpose in every walk of life.”  So as I hear from Alec the history and dreams of Shelburne Farms, I find myself contemplating a deeper meaning of both conservation and sustainability.  Could they be, I wonder, principles that apply to more than animals, vegetables, minerals and the needs of society?  Might they not also operate at the very core of human evolution—or, for the metaphysically inclined, at the heart of our relationship with the Divine?  Whether our ‘walk of life’ relates to environmental technology, Shakespearean metaphors or riding a mechanical bull, isn’t what we’re ultimately conserving and sustaining an ever-greater awareness of the choices we make, why we make them, and their effect on ourselves and others?  Does anything influence the vitality of humanity (including the health of the land) more than how awake we are to such choices?  In his seminal book, A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold wrote, “As a land-user thinketh, so is he.”  Substitute ‘person’ for ‘land-user’ and you reveal that deeper meaning I’m speaking of.  Perhaps conservation and sustainability, then, are only incidentally about what goes on ‘out there’ in the world and in nature, and primarily about what goes on in our own mind and heart.  Attention is destiny, you might say. 

One lovely example of the attention I celebrate most is what Peter Dodge brought to our lives that afternoon.

Burying grandmother in her paddock, he pointed out, could contaminate the nearby underground stream that served our farm on its way down mountain to the rest of the world.  A more harmonious location, we decided, was a pasture on the other side of the barn, a choice that meant dragging grandmother’s body a distance of about half a football field.

Peter’s rig was one of those gigantic caterpillar-tread excavators with a long, elbowed arm and a bucket that could have held a barbershop quartet.  He and I slipped a webbed tether around grandmother behind her front legs.  A loop at the tether’s end was placed over one of the bucket’s teeth.  Peter had already prepared the grave, wide and at least six feet deep with a soft angle of repose on the near end to make lowering grandmother as smooth as possible.  Then, with the artistry of those who operate complex machinery as a natural extension of themselves, Peter gently and gradually, a few feet at a time, pulled grandmother to the place where her flesh and bones would nourish her favorite field of clover.  Only at the very end as Peter settled grandmother pony onto the grave floor did her body buckle in an awkward pose.  Like a man on fire, Peter leapt off the excavator and into the grave to help me reposition grandmother’s head and hindquarters.  I and my family nested her muzzle with hay and grain and apples, then Peter, back on the excavator, began lightly sprinkling grandmother with soil until she was completely covered.  Only then did he replace the earth in large quantities.

I’ve never been to a funeral I’ll remember more than grandmother pony’s, such a visceral reminder that the harmony of man and land originates in the balance of our own mind and heart.

 

 To find out more about Steve, see examples of his stone sculptures or read a chapter from his book, click Here.

 Steve Roberts is the author of Cool Mind Warm Heart, a collection of essays, stories, and photographs of stone sculptures he builds on his Vermont farm.  He can be found on the web at CoolMindWarmHeart.com and at TheHeartOfTheEarth.com.

If you enjoy our inspirational stories and articles, be sure to visit our website for more:
Articles on Personal Growth, Health and Positive Change - Click Here.
Inspiring Stories - Click Here.

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News:  The Conscious Word and Conscious Wisdom are Now Available With A 2 Week FREE Trial
 

The Conscious Word is an email newsletter sent directly to you each day.  Each issue contains an inspirational affirmation designed to help uplift your spirits and support your conscious efforts at personal and spiritual growth and development.

By practicing the affirmation which we email to you, for 3 to 4 minutes a day, you create an effective tool that will help you experience an ongoing positive change in your life. 

We all “know” many things.  However, “knowing” something, in and of itself, does not make it “true” to us.  We can read all about oranges; we can look at pictures of oranges and we can talk to people who have eaten oranges.  But, until we taste the orange ourselves, we do not truly understand the full truth about what an orange is. 

Likewise, we can experience the “truth”, the real nature, of many more subtle and essential concepts by “tasting” them.  One of the capabilities of an affirmation is to provide us with a “taste” of the subject matter of the affirmation.

However, something else is also at work in an affirmation.  One of the secrets of the universe is that when a human believes something is so, it becomes what he or she believes.

Jesus said “Verily I say unto you, if ye have faith and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, `Be thou removed and be thou cast into the sea,' it shall be done.  And all things whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”  (Book of Matthew verses 21 and 22)

The key words in this quote are “If ye have faith and doubt not..” and “all things whatsoever ye shall ask believing..”

Jesus is describing this receptivity of the universe to human belief.  However, there are requirements for this belief to be effective.  Jesus says we must have “faith” without doubt and that we must “believe” as we ask.

James Allen’s famous premise “As a man Thinketh, so it is” expresses this same truth.

In essence, when we become utterly convinced of the truth of something, which means we have absolutely no doubts about it, the universe will be molded and shaped to match our conviction.  The challenging part is to find a way to become convinced of something that is not yet actualized.  To cultivate our faith.  This is where affirmations can help.

By taking a thought or collection of thoughts and impressing them deeply upon the mind with persistence and concentration,  a conviction can be cultivated.  Developing our own personal convictions, especially about ourselves, and then deepening and persisting in those convictions is a major key to our health, happiness and success in life.

For More Information, an example issue and A Two Week Free Trial, Click Here After your 2 week free trial, our normal subscription rate is $3.50 each month.

 

In addition, CLF is pleased to announce the introduction of our newest Daily Inspiration product, Conscious Wisdom. 

Conscious Wisdom is an email newsletter sent directly to you each day. 

Each issue contains inspirational guidance and wisdom designed to help uplift your spirits and support your conscious efforts at personal and spiritual growth and development.  We're offering a Two Week Free Trial subscription, so that you can experience personally how Conscious Wisdom can help change your life.  The regular monthly subscription costs $3.50 each month.

For More Information, an example issue and A Two Week Free Trial, Click Here.

 

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News:  Gift Certificates Now Available - Give the gift of Spiritual Inspiration and Renewal
Consider a Gift Certificate from The Conscious Living Foundation.  What better gift to give friends and loved ones than the gift of new hope, inspiration, encouragement and upliftment?  If you are considering buying a gift, why not let your loved ones select something that can genuinely make a difference in their lives?

Your Gift Certificate can be printed out for your personal delivery, or it can be emailed directly.  Our Gift Certificates are available in denominations from $5.00 to $1,000 and every product in our catalog is available for purchase with our CLF Gift Certificates. 

 Click Here for more information.

This time give the gift of a deeper spiritual life and increased personal growth.

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News:  Listening To Music Improves Your Health                      by Maggie Fox
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Songs that make our hearts soar can make them stronger too, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday.

They found that when people listened to their favorite music, their blood vessels dilated in much the same way as when laughing, or taking blood medications.

'We have a pretty impressive effect,' said Dr. Michael Miller, director of preventive cardiology at the University of Maryland Medical Center in Baltimore.

'Blood vessel diameter improved,' he said in a telephone interview. 'The vessel opened up pretty significantly. You can see the vessels opening up with other activities such as exercise.' A similar effect is seen with drugs such as statins and ACE inhibitors.

When blood vessels open more, blood flows more smoothly and is less likely to form the blood clots that cause heart attacks and strokes. Elastic vessels also resist the hardening activity of atherosclerosis.

'We are not saying to stop your statins or not to exercise but to add this to an overall program of heart health,' said Miller, who presented his findings to a meeting of the American Heart Association in New Orleans.

Miller's team tested 10 healthy, non-smoking men and women, who were told to bring their favorite music.

They spent half an hour listening to the recordings and half an hour listening to music they said made them feel anxious while the researchers did ultrasound tests designed to show blood vessel function.

Compared to their normal baseline measurements, blood vessel diameter increased 26 percent on average when the volunteers heard their joyful music. Listening to music they disliked—in most cases in this group heavy metal—narrowed blood vessels by six percent, Miller said.

Miller said he came up with the idea after discovering the laughter caused blood to literally flow more smoothly.

'I asked myself what other things make us feel real good, besides calories from dark chocolate of course. Music came to mind. ... It makes me feel real good,' he said.

Most of the volunteers chose country music but Miller said the style is not so important as what pleases each individual.

(Editing by Alan Elsner and Will Dunham)

Copyright 2008 Reuters.

 

News:  New Product Line Added To Our Catalog:  Spiritual Classical Music
The Conscious Living Foundation is pleased to announce that we have added an entirely new category of music to our product catalog.  In addition to our wide variety of New Age music CDs and Cassettes, we are now offering a variety of classical recordings of the very highest quality.

This expanding selection of recordings are primarily performances by the acclaimed choral group Gloriae Dei Cantores.  You will find selections by Renaissance masters,   sacred music of Russia (including numbers by Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky), Palestrina, Brahms and Mozart.

In addition, there are more traditional spiritual songs such as Amazing Grace, What A Friend We Have In Jesus and Simple Gifts.

As always, free audio samples from each album are available for your download and enjoyment.

 Click Here for more information and lots of free samples.

Spiritual encouragement can come in many forms - one of the most powerful are these recordings of the deep attunement and inspiration of these great masters.

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News:  Is Your Family Being Manipulated by Mass Media?                         by Howard Davis
 

Does your family properly use electronic mass media? Or do you let the media abuse you? Here are 10 principles to help you regain control and stamp out media abuse.

Believe it or not, your family is probably being abused- by a manipulative seducer you welcome into your home.

Many people unknowingly let media merchants-the creators and marketers of television programs, movies, videotapes, music and video and computer games-abuse them. They do so when they allow such outsiders to intrude into their family affairs and exploit the negative side of their human nature.

Although the entertainment media can be informative and beneficial, we need to recognize that evil media exist, and we must learn how to make use of the good and avoid the bad. We should realize, too, that too much of even a good thing can be bad.

How great is the media's influence on the family? According to a 2001 report of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the average American child living at home spends 42 hours weekly-the equivalent of a full-time job-immersed in watching TV or videos, listening to music on the radio, tapes or CDs, playing video games or using a computer.

Many adults admit they squander much of their health and time in passively viewing-letting television, videotapes and other electronic and mechanical contrivances monopolize their time and keep them from physical exercise and other productive activities and even enough sleep.

Researchers associate excessive TV viewing with violence, depression, obesity and mental problems. Although many people think of television as a stress reliever, research has shown that, at current viewing levels, TV induces stress while discouraging exercise and productive motivation.

Regaining control

What about your family? Many people don't realize that life can be better when we begin to control media rather than letting media control us. Many don't understand that stopping media abuse is a matter of setting and then diplomatically implementing firm family rules. Establishing principles of media use for your family is the best way to use electronic devices productively rather than letting them use you.

The mass media are designed to stimulate and control your mind through attention-getting techniques-to the point that some researchers compare their effect to addictive drugs. Because the media are so prone to abuse, unless you consciously temper your media use by decisions based on solid biblical values within a consistent and positive lifestyle, you will probably find yourself a victim of media abuse.

Positive media use is advocated throughout a growing field of study called media literacy, to be found in many educational systems in many countries. Ironically, in the United States, which because of heavy media use needs it most, media-literacy efforts sadly lag.

Although the mass media's correlation with declining education, increased criminal behavior and deteriorating physical and mental health are increasingly and adequately documented, state and federal lawmakers consistently fail to fund media-literacy efforts. Why? Part of the answer is that the election processes at all levels heavily involve media manipulation by all parties and candidates. Too many elected officials, conservative and liberal, are themselves largely the creations of the mass media.

Effective media-literacy efforts involve helping students and parents develop critical-thinking skills to counteract a culture that conditions us to passively accept almost anything. Psychological and brainwave studies show that TV and other visual electronic-media use, including many video and computer games, pushes people into a mild trance-what some call passive mindlessness-after only a few minutes.

Surveys by educators show that firm but fair family rules that limit the amount of television viewing-along with rules restricting or banning sexually suggestive and violent content-are important factors in helping students develop into academic achievers.

 

 

Ten principles of healthy media use

The good news is that you can change many of these negative situations and outcomes. Your family can learn to use the media as assets rather than enemies.

However, doing so requires that most of us begin to break long-established habits.

Not surprisingly, the best advice from educators, the American Academy of Pediatrics (representing 55,000 children's doctors) and government-funded research agrees with a common source-the Bible -when it comes to properly using the mass media. Without quoting specific scriptures or academic citations, and yet adhering to biblical teachings, the following basic principles are easy to understand and not difficult to follow-once you make a firm commitment and apply them for a month.

Understand, though, that when making these changes you will need to discuss them with other family members because they will probably require major lifestyle changes. Parents should agree on the rules and explain them to their children. For a family's new mass-media program to be effective, it needs to involve genuine change. You don't have to throw out the television, but these principles do require action.

Principle 1: Focus on doing, not viewing.

Make sure you and your family involve yourselves in a variety of activities to ensure a rich and balanced life based on thought, talk and action. Limit passive consumption in every area of life. Just as eating too much junk food is harmful, media consumption is bad when it tilts your life out of balance. Make sure your family does more than simply passively and mindlessly soak up what's presented.

The American Academy of Pediatricians maintains that children should not be exposed to more than one or two hours of television, video recordings and popular music per day. The academy says young children should view television no more than 30 minutes daily. This requires cutting out 65 to 75 percent of television time in the life of a typical 2- to 18-year-old child. Adults likewise need to set the right example by making similar needed adjustments.

Principle 2: Place your television carefully.

Keep the television set where you and your family have to make an intentional effort to use it. If you don't want the TV and Internet to dominate your time, then don't place your television and computer where they are easy to access. That means keeping the TV out of the kitchen or bedrooms if that's where family members spend most of their free time.

Wise parents place the TV where they can monitor their children's viewing. You might even drape a tablecloth over the set if it's in the living or family room to discourage leaving it on constantly.

Even if you think you may have a war on your hands-65 percent of American schoolchildren have television sets in their bedrooms-patiently explain to your children the reasons that viewing in the bedroom is not a good idea. Virtually all experts agree that TV in children's rooms leads to more viewing, the tendency to obesity and incomplete homework and increased isolation from the rest of the family.

Principle 3: Establish and follow family rules

Make realistic rules and follow them. For example, you might want to allow television watching only after your children complete their homework and household chores. Some parents allow no more than one hour of TV before dinner; then comes homework; then one hour of TV viewing before bedtime. Some advocate no TV, Internet or electronic games at all after 10 or 11 p.m.

Whatever the rules, live within them, but don't be unreasonably inflexible or overly arbitrary about following them when circumstances warrant otherwise. Of course, there is always a tendency to decide that a particular media event is so important we must bend the rules. Don't believe it. With rare exceptions, almost anything can be videotaped to play back later.

Many adults whose parents severely limited their TV time while they were growing up now thank them for those apparently restrictive but, viewed in retrospect, farsighted family rules. They realize they were able to use their time to develop a wide range of skills, from art to sports to musical abilities to auto mechanics. Instead of wasting time on prepackaged audiovisual entertainment, their working hard or reading material requiring them to think helped them develop skills that proved valuable later in life.

Those who watched little TV as children generally grew up to be more actionoriented. They became productive people with higher standards than they would have otherwise had, and they developed a genuine sense of accomplishment. Naturally, having now become parents themselves, they want to keep their own children from wasting their youth on passive media consumption. These parents are among the strongest supporters of consistent rules for electronic-media use.

Principle 4: Plan your viewing ahead of time.

Make a schedule of the coming week's viewing and stick to it. With the exception of disasters, emergencies and latebreaking stories and intermittent special broadcasts, you should be able plan most TV programming in advance.

Be sure to switch off the TV when dining. That is critical for family health and well-being. Don't give up family dining time for television viewing.

Principle 5: Teach your children media-literacy skills.

Talk about what you and your family members watch and listen to. Point out the impact television and music has on attitudes, thinking and emotions. Question your children. Their answers will tell you how they perceive the information they see and hear and will sharpen your skill in analyzing the media as well.

What do the messages targeted at families mean? Considering and talking about content will help you realize how you may be affected and what steps you may need to institute to build a healthy home atmosphere.

Principle 6: Have fun with what you watch.

Some TV programs are both fun and beneficial. But even when a program isn't, sometimes you can have a good laugh when you see foolish commercials or absurd programming. Laugh and joke about the clever methods producers of TV commercials and programs use to sell a particular point of view. Be alert and aware!

Principle 7: Talk about media violence and destructive sexuality.

Explain the differences between manufactured horror and real-life suffering. Explain that playing with sex outside of marriage always has damaging effects-contrary to the seemingly harmless way it is almost always depicted in movies, TV shows and music. Discuss the realistic and unrealistic use of sex as it is presented by the mass media. Talk about the many sensational portrayals of violence with no ill consequences to the heroes and villains in contrast to morerealistic programs that honestly show the inevitable consequences.

Principle 8: Choose quality TV, video and computer media.

Make it a part of your routine to view educational TV programs and videos. Many excellent programs on history, biography, culture, science and classic drama are available to enrich and inform us, even humor and inspire us.

Principle 9: Model good viewing habits.

As adults, proactively decide what you will watch and make it clear to your children and visiting friends, if necessary, that your household's viewing habits are consistent with your values. Understand, of course, that your children will not willingly restrict their viewing to good material and stick to family rules if parents don't do so.

Principle 10: Use TV and videotapes or DVDs to support biblical values.

Make your media-content choices support your biblically based family values. Make them fit your personal quest to have the best family life possible. Should negative media intrude into your home and life, analyze and discuss why the content doesn't support the ideals and goals you are striving to maintain.

Depending on the age of your children, if at least some of these 10 principles do not describe your way of life, you may have to exercise diplomacy and patience in implementing them. Applying right principles can require thought and planning, but you will find the results well worth the effort.

All 10 principles will lead to a better life and a realistic view of the world. We live in the mass-media age, but that doesn't force us to be mass-media slaves. God wants us to be the best we can be, which requires that we live a principled life-controlling media input rather than letting it control us by brainwashing us with its oftencorrupting values and standards.

Gaining control over a problem requires three simple steps to implement change: acquiring knowledge of the problem, committing to a solution, and consistently following through.

A major theme of the Bible is that "whatever a man sows, that he will also reap" (Galatians 6:7). If you sow these principles of success when it comes to using the electronic media in your home, you can reap rich rewards in a balanced, positive life.

For further information, you can obtain a summary of sound principles for media use from the American Academy of Pediatricians through your local pediatrician, on the Web at www.aap.org or in books such as Screen Smarts: A Family Guide to Media Literacy, by Gloria DeGaetano and Kathleen Bander, in public libraries and bookstores. GN  
(reprinted from gnmagazine.0rg)

News:  Your First Source For Everything -

In our attempt to offer new products and services which support your efforts at personal and spiritual growth, The Conscious Living Foundation is now offering for the first time, a greatly expanded catalog of products.  We hope, once you see our low prices, that you'll think of us as your first source for all your needs.

In addition to our Inspirational Products, we also now offer many other products which we all tend to purchase as part of our daily living.  We now make available almost everything you can imagine – from candles, incense, wind chimes, bird houses and angels to clocks, jewelry, kitchen supplies, tools and telephones. 

It is our hope that you will consider our product catalog as your first source for these other purchases.  Even if the product is not specifically inspirational, your purchase from us helps tremendously in our ability to remain in existence and continue to offer our other, more spiritually directed products and services.

To find our new catalog, just click the red “Products” button at the top of most pages of our website, or to explore the wide gamut of new products right now, just click Here.

 

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Letters To The Editor:

1.  A great newsletter Bill - thank you. I first read Lobsang Rampa in the 60"s and some of his other books but it was good to read the 1st chapter again. Linda, my wife, has just read Wattles essay about material success and liked it too.  -- Bryan (From New Zealand)

Thanks Bryan - we appreciate the positive feedback.  The second chapter of T. Lobsang Rampa's book is included in this edition of our newsletter.  In addition, we've added a new article on material abundance as well.  Enjoy the reading! - The Editor

2.  Overall, it was a pleasure to read the newsletter; your style of writing is always very engaging.

For myself, your current contents layout was a bit disorganized, and left me feeling like there was "too much".  From a practical stand point, I think I'd group the contents by category; news, essays, etc.  I think people would find it much easier to traverse that way, and if you were to including a link to each item, I'm sure your readers would appreciate it.  Sometimes a person only has a few minutes to spare and if something were to catch their eye, they could easily go directly to it.  Unfortunately that would no doubt add more work to your no doubt, super busy schedule. -- Erica (From California)

Thank you for your suggestions Erica.  Your idea to group the table of contents into categories made sense to us, so we've followed your advice for this issue of the newsletter.  We look forward to feedback on whether this makes it easier.  Regarding links to each article:  As you're aware, there are actually 2 versions of the newsletter.  We only email the table of contents to each subscriber.  That email contains one link which connects to the complete newsletter contained on our website.   We've discovered the hard way that if we place more than a few links in our email that is a trigger for many email applications to think the email is spam.

So, our solution is to only place one link in the actual email, but when you click that link and go to the complete email on our website, then each article listed in the table of contents contains a link to that specific article.  I guess that's my long-winded way of saying we agree with you and the links to the articles do exist in the complete newsletter.  Thanks again for the super suggestions! - The Editor

If you have any comments on the emails that we've received, the contents of our newsletter or any other matter of interest to our subscribers, please email us at:  and we'll try to include your thoughts in our next newsletter.

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Conscious Friends - Creating a World-Wide Spiritual Community

Tens of thousands of people visit The Conscious Living Foundation website.  Married or single, male or female, youth or senior, we all appreciate having friends who share our common interest in personal and spiritual growth.  As we learn and mature, many of us have realized that relationships are an important part of creating and maintaining a harmonious and uplifting life. 

To that end, The Conscious Living Foundation is pleased to announce the formal launch of the Conscious Friends section of our website, in the hope that we all can find new like-minded friends, develop deeper relationships and work together to enhance our world.

Conscious Friends offers several excellent features designed to help us communicate with each other, including access to custom created profiles of spiritually oriented people, a wide range of stimulating and thought-provoking forums, public and private chat rooms, instant messaging and our own private and confidential internal email system.

However, the most valuable assets within Conscious Friends are the people who create the community.  Even in its infancy, we have members from Croatia, Great Britain, Switzerland, India, South Africa, Nigeria, Canada, France, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Portugal, Oman and Norway, as well as all over the United States.  And, our membership continues to grow every day.  Don't miss this great opportunity to discover how wide-spread, optimistic and hopeful our global spiritual community really is.

Joined together we can create a world-wide Spirit village, a global community of high-minded individuals who can help uplift and serve each other and all our brothers and sisters hungry for a deeper meaning in their lives. 

Membership is free, so we invite you to visit Conscious Friends and discover for yourself the great opportunities which await you - just click  Here.

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The Conscious Living Foundation's only source of income is your donations and purchase of our products.  If you enjoy our newsletter and website, if you receive inspiration and encouragement from our efforts, we urge you to make a donation to help sustain and grow this work.

By helping us, you are supporting the spiritual growth of the tens of thousands of people from all over the world, who regularly visit our website.

Click Here for more information.  Thank you!

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News:  New Alternative Energy Sources - Water Hyacinths
MANILA, (IRIN) - Thanks to a local invention, lakeshore communities in the Philippines will soon begin using water hyacinths as an alternative source of fuel and organic fertiliser.

'The world is badly in need of raw materials for biomass fuel that we can grow easily even in places that we don't expect,' inventor Gonzalo Catan Jr told IRIN.

The abundance of unwanted water lilies on the shores of Laguna de Bay—one of Southeast Asia's biggest fresh-water bodies—provided an opportunity for Catan to showcase his invention.

The prize-winning technology recycles bio-waste into environment-friendly 'green charcoal', a compact solid fuel providing a good alternative to liquefied petroleum gas for cooking and possibly industry.

The technology works by using a 'threader machine' to shred the water lilies. Next, enzyme-producing microbes are added and finally, the mixture of treated water lilies is put in the sun to dry.

Organic fertiliser vermicast may also be produced from the lake's organic mud deposits but instead of microbes, earthworms are added to the mix. 'Water the mixture twice a week and let earthworms eat them [hyacinths],' Catan explained.

Catan said it was important to produce organic fertiliser. 'That is the mistake of many countries, including the US. Production of bio-fuel goes now to feed cars instead of feeding cattle. Agriculture is also important,' he said.

Working with communities

Catan's company, Mapecon Green Charcoal Philippines Inc, was backed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and local governments around Laguna de Bay.

One of Mapecon's community partners is the municipality of Cardona in the province of Rizal. Cardona has eight island villages right at the heart of Laguna de Bay.

According to one village chief, Balibago's Wilijandro Raymundo, the water lilies are especially abundant at this time of the year when the Amihan or cool northeast wind is blowing.

'They are very thick. They grow as high as the human waist, and they are very heavy. They must be occupying 100 hectares of Balibago shoreline. It's almost impossible to pass through,' Raymundo said. The water lilies will stay in Cardona's shorelines until April or May when the wind changes direction, Raymundo added.

'Our residents will be able to benefit a lot once we begin producing green charcoal,' Cardona's municipal planning officer Janet Ramos told IRIN. She said Catan had shown them an 'improvised stove' fuelled by green charcoal instead of the usual liquefied petroleum gas.

The vermicast will also benefit farmers and small-holders, she added.

'We will look for a market for the products. That's part of our partnership. We will help in the marketing of the products that would be developed out of these otherwise nuisance plants,' DENR secretary Lito Atienza told reporters during the signing of the agreement with Mapecon.

Nuisance plants

Mapecon's project will also help the lakeshore residents simply by collecting the unwanted plants. Growing so tall and thick, the water lilies make navigation very difficult.

'We cannot go out to fish. The water lilies are blocking our way. It's difficult for our people to report to school or to the offices on the mainland,' Raymundo said.

'You can't just push them out of the way using bamboo poles. They have big roots,' Ramos added. As a result, travel time is doubled at this time of the year. The boats' engines are strained and more fuel is needed to reach neighbouring towns.

A report by the Laguna Lake Development Authority—the government agency tasked to protect the lake and its surrounding environmental resources—shows that the accumulation of water lilies on shorelines was causing poor water circulation, destruction of fish pens and fish due to the death and decay of aquatic plants, and increased water loss due to excess transpiration.

Copyright © IRIN 2008

The material contained on www.IRINnews.org comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies.

 


 

Serial:  A Romance of Two Worlds          by Marie Corelli                      
           

CHAPTER II.

THE MYSTERIOUS POTION.


The next day, punctually at noon, according to my promise, I entered the studio. I was alone, for Amy, after some qualms of conscience respecting chaperonage, propriety, and Mrs. Grundy, had yielded to my entreaties and gone for a drive with some friends. In spite of the fears she began to entertain concerning the Mephistophelian character of Raffaello Cellini, there was one thing of which both she and I felt morally certain: namely, that no truer or more honourable gentleman than he ever walked on the earth.

Under his protection the loveliest and loneliest woman that ever lived would have been perfectly safe--as safe as though she were shut up, like the princess in the fairy-tale, in a brazen tower, of which only an undiscoverable serpent possessed the key. When I arrived, the rooms were deserted, save for the presence of a magnificent Newfoundland dog, who, as I entered, rose, and shaking his shaggy body, sat down before me and offered me his huge paw, wagging his tail in the most friendly manner all the while, I at once responded to his cordial greeting, and as I stroked his noble head, I wondered where the animal had come from; for though--we had visited Signor Cellini's studio every day, there had been no sign or mention of this stately, brown-eyed, four-footed companion. I seated myself, and the dog immediately lay down at my feet, every now and then looking up at me with an affectionate glance and a renewed wagging of his tail. Glancing round the well-known room, I noticed that the picture I admired so much was veiled by a curtain of Oriental stuff, in which were embroidered threads of gold mingled with silks of various brilliant hues.

On the working easel was a large square canvas, already prepared, as I supposed, for my features to be traced thereon. It was an exceedingly warm morning, and though the windows as well as the glass doors of the conservatory were wide open, I found the air of the studio very oppressive. I perceived on the table a finely-wrought decanter of Venetian glass, in which clear water sparkled temptingly. Rising from my chair, I took an antique silver goblet from the mantelpiece, filled it with the cool fluid, and was about to drink, when the cup was suddenly snatched from my hands, and the voice of Cellini, changed from its usual softness to a tone both imperious and commanding, startled me. " Do not drink that," he said; "you must not! You dare not! I forbid you!" I  looked up at him in mute astonishment. His face was very pale, and his large dark eyes shone with suppressed excitement.

Slowly my self-possession returned to me, and I said calmly: " YOU forbid me, signor? Surely you forget yourself. What harm have I done in helping myself to a simple glass of water in your studio? You are not usually so inhospitable." While I spoke his manner changed, the color returned to his face, and his eyes softened--he smiled. " Forgive me, mademoiselle, for my brusquerie. It is true I forgot myself for a moment. But you were in danger, and----" " In danger!" I exclaimed incredulously. " Yes, mademoiselle. This," and he held up the Venetian decanter to the light, "is not water simply. If you will observe it now with the sunshine beating full against it, I think you will perceive peculiarities in it that will assure you of my veracity."

I  looked as he bade me, and saw, to my surprise, that the fluid was never actually still for a second. A sort of internal bubbling seemed to work in its centre, and curious specks and lines of crimson and gold flashed through it from time to time. " What is it?" I asked; adding with a half-smile, "Are you the possessor of a specimen of the far-famed Aqua Tofana?" Cellini placed the decanter carefully on a shelf, and I noticed that he chose a particular spot for it, where the rays of the sun could fall perpendicularly upon the vessel containing it.

Then turning to me, he replied: " Aqua Tofana, mademoiselle, is a deadly poison, known to the ancients and also to many learned chemists of our day. It is a clear and colourless liquid, but it is absolutely still--as still as a stagnant pool. What I have just shown you is not poison, but quite the reverse. I will prove this to you at once." And taking a tiny liqueur glass from a side table, he filled it with the strange fluid and drank it off, carefully replacing the stopper in the decanter. " But, Signor Cellini," I urged, "if it is so harmless, why did you forbid my tasting it? Why did you say there was danger for me when I was about to drink it?" " Because, mademoiselle, for YOU it would be dangerous. Your health is weak, your nerves unstrung.

That elixir is a powerful vivifying tonic, acting with great rapidity on the entire system, and rushing through the veins with the swiftness of ELECTRICITY. I am accustomed to it; it is my daily medicine. But I was brought to it by slow, and almost imperceptible degrees. A single teaspoonful of that fluid, mademoiselle, administered to anyone not prepared to receive it, would be instant death, though its actual use is to vivify and strengthen human life. You understand now why I said you were in danger?" " I understand," I replied, though in sober truth I was mystified and puzzled. " And you forgive my seeming rudeness?" " Oh, certainly! But you have aroused my curiosity. I should like to know more about this strange medicine of yours." " You shall know more if you wish," said Cellini, his usual equable humour and good spirits now quite restored. "You shall know everything; but not to-day. We have too little time. I have not yet commenced your picture. And I forgot--you were thirsty, and I was, as you said, inhospitable. You must permit me to repair my fault." And with a courteous salute he left the room, to return almost immediately with a tumbler full of some fragrant, golden-coloured liquid, in which lumps of ice glittered refreshingly.

A few loose rose-leaves were scattered on the top of this dainty-looking beverage. " You may enjoy this without fear," said he, smiling; "it will do you good. It is an Eastern wine, unknown to trade, and therefore untampered with. I see you are looking at the rose-leaves on the surface. That is a Persian custom, and I think a pretty one. They float away from your lips in the action of drinking, and therefore they are no obstacle." I  tasted the wine and found it delicious, soft and mellow as summer moonlight. While I sipped it the big Newfoundland, who had stretched himself in a couchant posture on the hearth-rug ever since Cellini had first entered the room, rose and walked majestically to my side and rubbed his head caressingly against the folds of my dress. " Leo has made friends with you, I see," said Cellini. "You should take that as a great compliment, for he is most particular in his choice of acquaintance, and most steadfast when he has once made up his mind.

He has more decision of character than many a statesman." " How is it we have never seen him before?" I inquired. "You never told us you had such a splendid companion." " I am not his master," replied the artist. "He only favours me with a visit occasionally. He arrived from Paris last night, and came straight here, sure of his welcome. He does not confide his plans to me, but I suppose he will return to his home when he thinks it advisable. He knows his own business best." I  laughed. " What a clever dog! Does he journey on foot, or does he take the train?" " I believe he generally patronizes the railway. All the officials know him, and he gets into the guard's van as a matter of course. Sometimes he will alight at a station en route, and walk the rest of the way. But if he is lazily inclined, he does not stir till the train reaches its destination. At the end of every six months or so, the railway authorities send the bill of Leo's journeyings in to his master, when it is always settled without difficulty." " And who IS his master?" I ventured to ask. Cellini's face grew serious and absorbed, and his eyes were full of grave contemplation as he answered: " His master, mademoiselle, is MY master--one who among men, is supremely intelligent; among teachers, absolutely unselfish; among thinkers, purely impersonal; among friends, inflexibly faithful.

 

 

To him I owe everything--even life itself. For him no sacrifice, no extreme devotion would be too great, could I hope thereby to show my gratitude. But he is as far above human thanks or human rewards as the sun is above the sea. Not here, not now, dare I say to him, MY FRIEND, BEHOLD HOW MUCH I LOVE THEE! such language would be all too poor and unmeaning; but hereafter--who knows?----" and he broke off abruptly with a half-sigh. Then, as if forcing himself to change the tenor of his thoughts, he continued in a kind tone: "But, mademoiselle, I am wasting your time, and am taking no advantage of the favor you have shown me by your presence to-day. Will you seat yourself here?" and he placed an elaborately carved oaken settee in one corner of the studio, opposite his own easel. "I should be sorry to fatigue you at all," he went on; "do you care for reading?" I  answered eagerly in the affirmative, and he handed me a volume bound in curiously embossed leather, and ornamented with silver clasps. It was entitled "Letters of a Dead Musician." " You will find clear gems of thought, passion, and feeling in this book," said Cellini; "and being a musician yourself, you will know how to appreciate them.

The writer was one of those geniuses whose work the world repays with ridicule and contempt. There is no fate more enviable!" I  looked at the artist with some surprise as I took the volume he recommended, and seated myself in the position he indicated; and while he busied himself in arranging the velvet curtains behind me as a background, I said: " Do you really consider it enviable, Signor Cellini, to receive the world's ridicule and contempt?" " I do indeed," he replied, "since it is a certain proof that the world does not understand you. To achieve something that is above human comprehension, THAT is greatness. To have the serene sublimity of the God-man Christ, and consent to be crucified by a gibing world that was fated to be afterwards civilized and dominated by His teachings, what can be more glorious?

To have the magnificent versatility of a Shakespeare, who was scarcely recognized in his own day, but whose gifts were so vast and various that the silly multitudes wrangle over his very identity and the authenticity of his plays to this hour--what can be more triumphant? To know that one's own soul can, if strengthened and encouraged by the force of will, rise to a supreme altitude of power--is not that sufficient to compensate for the little whining cries of the common herd of men and women who have forgotten whether they ever had a spiritual spark in them, and who, straining up to see the light of genius that burns too fiercely for their earth-dimmed eyes, exclaim: 'WE see nothing, therefore there CAN be nothing.'

Ah, mademoiselle, the knowledge of one's own inner Self-Existence is a knowledge surpassing all the marvels of art and science!" Cellini spoke with enthusiasm, and his countenance seemed illumined by the eloquence that warmed his speech. I listened with a sort of dreamy satisfaction; the visual sensation of utter rest that I always experienced in this man's presence was upon me, and I watched him with interest as he drew with quick and facile touch the outline of my features on his canvas. Gradually he became more and more absorbed in his work; he glanced at me from time to time, but did not speak, and his pencil worked rapidly.

I turned over the "Letters of a Dead Musician" with some curiosity. Several passages struck me as being remarkable for their originality and depth of thought; but what particularly impressed me as I read on, was the tone of absolute joy and contentment that seemed to light up every page.

There were no wailings over disappointed ambition, no regrets for the past, no complaints, no criticism, no word for or against the brothers of his art; everything was treated from a lofty standpoint of splendid equality, save when the writer spoke of himself, and then he became the humblest of the humble, yet never abject, and always happy. " O Music!" he wrote, "Music, thou Sweetest Spirit of all that serve God, what have I done that thou shouldst so often visit me? I

t is not well, O thou Lofty and Divine One, that thou shouldst stoop so low as to console him who is the unworthiest of all thy servants. For I am too feeble to tell the world how soft is the sound of thy rustling pinions, how tender is the sighing breath of thy lips, how beyond all things glorious is the vibration of thy lightest whisper! Remain aloft, thou Choicest Essence of the Creator's Voice, remain in that pure and cloudless ether, where alone thou art fitted to dwell. My touch must desecrate thee, my voice affright thee. Suffice it to thy servant, O Beloved, to dream of thee and die!" Meeting Cellini's glance as I finished reading these lines, I asked: " Did you know the author of this book, signor?" " I knew him well," he replied; "he was one of the gentlest souls that ever dwelt in human clay. As ethereal in his music as John Keats in his poetry, he was one of those creatures born of dreams and rapture that rarely visit this planet. Happy fellow! What a death was his!" " How did he die?" I inquired. " He was playing the organ in one of the great churches of Rome on the day of the Feast of the Virgin. A choir of finely trained voices sang to his accompaniment his own glorious setting of the "Regina Coeli."

The music was wonderful, startling, triumphant--ever rising in power and majesty to a magnificent finale, when suddenly a slight crash was heard; the organ ceased abruptly, the singers broke off. The musician was dead. He had fallen forward on the keys of the instrument, and when they raised him, his face was fairer than the face of any sculptured angel, so serene was its expression, so rapt was its smile. No one could tell exactly the cause of his death--he had always been remarkably strong and healthy. Everyone said it was heart-disease--it is the usual reason assigned by medical savants for these sudden departures out of the world. His loss was regretted by all, save myself and one other who loved him. We rejoiced, and still do rejoice, at his release." I  speculated vaguely on the meaning of these last words, but I felt disinclined to ask any more questions, and Cellini, probably seeing this, worked on at his sketch without further converse.

My eyes were growing heavy, and the printed words in the "Dead Musician's Letters" danced before my sight like active little black demons with thin waving arms and legs. A curious yet not unpleasant drowsiness stole over me, in which I heard the humming of the bees at the open window, the singing of the birds, and the voices of people in the hotel gardens, all united in one continuous murmur that seemed a long way off.

I saw the sunshine and the shadow--I saw the majestic Leo stretched full length near the easel, and the slight supple form of Raffaello Cellini standing out in bold outline against the light; yet all seemed shifting and mingling strangely into a sort of wide radiance in which there was nothing but varying tints of colour. And could it have been my fancy, or did I actually SEE the curtain fall gradually away from my favorite picture, just enough for the face of the "Angel of Life" to be seen smiling down upon me? I rubbed my eyes violently, and started to my feet at the sound of the artist's voice.

" I have tried your patience enough for to-day," he said, and his words sounded muffled, as though they were being spoken through, a thick wall. "You can leave me now if you like." I  stood before him mechanically, still holding the book he had lent me clasped in my hand. Irresolutely I raised my eyes towards the "Lords of our Life and Death." It was closely veiled. I had then experienced an optical illusion. I forced myself to speak--to smile- -to put back the novel sensations that were overwhelming me. " I think," I said, and I heard myself speak as though I were somebody else at a great distance off--"I think, Signor Cellini, your Eastern wine has been too potent for me. My head is quite heavy, and I feel dazed." " It is mere fatigue and the heat of the day," he replied quietly.

"I am sure you are not too DAZED, as you call it, to see your favorite picture, are you?" I  trembled. Was not that picture veiled? I looked--there was no curtain at all, and the faces of the two Angels shone out of the canvas with intense brilliancy! Strange to say, I felt no surprise at this circumstance, which, had it occurred a moment previously, would have unquestionably astonished and perhaps alarmed me. The mistiness of my brain suddenly cleared; I saw everything plainly; I heard distinctly; and when I spoke, the tone of my voice sounded as full and ringing as it had previously seemed low and muffled. I gazed steadfastly at the painting, and replied, half smiling: " I should be indeed 'far gone,' as the saying is, if I could not see that, signor!

It is truly your masterpiece. Why have you never exhibited it?" " Can YOU ask that?" he said with impressive emphasis, at the same time drawing nearer and fixing upon me the penetrating glance of his dark fathomless eyes. It then seemed to me that some great inner force compelled me to answer this half-inquiry, in words of which I had taken no previous thought, and which, as I uttered them, conveyed no special meaning to my own ears. " Of course," I said slowly, as if I were repeating a lesson, "you would not so betray the high trust committed to your charge." " Well said!" replied Cellini; "you are fatigued, mademoiselle. Au revoir! Till tomorrow !" And, throwing open the door of his studio, he stood aside for me to pass out. I looked at him inquiringly. " Must I come at the same time tomorrow ?" I asked. " If you please." I  passed my hand across my forehead perplexedly, I felt I had something else to say before I left him.

He waited patiently, holding back with one hand the curtains of the portiere. " I think I had a parting word to give you," I said at last, meeting his gaze frankly; "but I seem to have forgotten what it was." Cellini smiled gravely. " Do not trouble to think about it, mademoiselle. I am unworthy the effort on your part." A  flash of vivid light crossed my eyes for a second, and I exclaimed eagerly: " I remember now! It was 'Dieu vous garde' signor!" H e bent his head reverentially. " Merci mille fois, mademoiselle! Dieu vous garde--vous aussi. Au revoir." And clasping my hand with a light yet friendly pressure, he closed the door of his room behind me. Once alone in the passage, the sense of high elation and contentment that had just possessed me began gradually to decrease.

I had not become actually dispirited, but a languid feeling of weariness oppressed me, and my limbs ached as though I had walked incessantly for many miles. I went straight to my own room. I consulted my watch; it was half-past one, the hour at which the hotel luncheon was usually served. Mrs. Everard had evidently not returned from her drive. I did not care to attend the table d'hote alone; besides, I had no inclination to eat.

I drew down the window-blinds to shut out the brilliancy of the beautiful Southern sunlight, and throwing myself on my bed I determined to rest quietly till Amy came back. I had brought the "Letters of a Dead Musician" away with me from Cellini's studio, and I began to read, intending to keep myself awake by this means. But I found I could not fix my attention on the page, nor could I think at all connectedly. Little by little my eyelids closed; the book dropped from my nerveless hand; and in a few minutes I was in a deep and tranquil slumber.


Marie Corelli was the most widely read author of fiction of her time.  Her works were collected by members of the British Royal Family and by Winston Churchill.  A recurring theme throughout her books was her attempt to reconcile Christianity with reincarnation, astral projection and other mystical topics.

Her books were a very important part of the foundation of today's New Age and New Thought movements.

Look for the next chapter in A Romance of Two Worlds by Marie Corelli in the next edition of our newsletter and prior chapters in prior editions.  To read other books by Marie Corelli, visit our free Ebook section by clicking  Here.

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News:  Special Discounts - This Holiday Season, Share The Spirit!

With the holiday season nearly upon us, if you're considering buying a gift for a friend or loved one, why not select gifts that can genuinely make a difference in their lives?  This time, give books, candle holders, incense, gift certificates, hand made soaps, videos, spoken word CDs or a huge variety of other products that will continue to inspire and encourage throughout the year.  To view our entire catalog of products, click Here.

For a unique gift, you might consider purchasing a subscription to one of our daily inspirational emails - Conscious Word (a daily affirmation) or Conscious Wisdom (a daily quotation).  For only $3.50 a month you will be bringing new hope and assurance into every day of the lives of your loved ones.

We make buying even easier with our Special Product discounts.  We have collected together some of our most popular spoken word audio CDs at tremendous savings.  Click Here to see our great selection of best sellers and favorites.  They include audio versions of your all time favorites, perfect to listen to while driving or exercising.

Deepen your practice of the techniques that bring new joy and hope into your life - and give the gift of a deeper spiritual life and increased personal growth. This holiday season share the Spirit!

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News:  Exploring The Free Downloads Library of The Conscious Living Foundation
 

 

One of the most popular sections of our website is our Free Downloads Library.  It is made up of several sections which are updated on a continuous basis (Click on any underlined words to go directly to that section):

 

E-Books

One of our most popular sections of our website is our free E-Book section, which is divided into two general areas:  Inspirational, Philosophical and Metaphysical E-Books and Literature and Light Entertainment E-Books.  Our collection now contains several hundred E-Books in a variety of popular formats.  We add new selections on a continuous basis.

 

Titles include works by:  James Allen, Emilie Cady, Catherine Ponder, Walter Lanyon, Charles Filmore, Wallace Wattles, Mary Baker Eddy, Florence Scovel Shin, Ernest Holmes, William Atkinson, Confucius, Aristotle, Henry David Thoreau, Herman Hesse, Signmund Freud, Ralph Waldo Trine, Thomas A Kempis, Rabindranath Tagore, Lao Tze, Paramahansa Yogananda, Krishnamurti, Kahlil Gibran, Buddha, Patanjali, Napoleon Hill, Mahatma Gandhi plus Literature by authors such as:  Jules Verne, Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, a Sherlock Holmes Collection, Edgar Rice Burroughs, P.G. Wodehouse, Alexander Dumas, H.G. Wells, a Wizard of Oz Collection and hundreds of other titles!

 

Spoken Word Audio 

(Lectures, Talks, Sermons, Recorded Comments, Classes and Workshops)

 

Our Spoken Word Audio section currently includes recordings made by Mahatma Gandhi, Rabbi Michael Laitman, Billy Graham, Amee Semple McPherson, Kathryn Kulman, William Simpson, Krishnamurti and The Dalai Lama.

 

In addition, it contains recordings of works such as:  The Book of Proverbs, The Game of Life by Florence Scovel Shin, The Prophet by Kahlil Gibran, The Imitation of Christ by Thomas A' Kempis, Practicing The Presence of God by Brother Lawrence, Pilgrim's Progress by John Bunyan, The Science of Getting Rich by Wallace Wattles, The Dialogs of St. Catherine of Siena and As a Man Thinketh and Byways To Blessedness by James Allen.

 

Music

(Music and sounds from a variety of sources, styles and historical periods)

 

Our Music and Audio section contain a wide range of musical styles from various historical periods, but all "spiritual" in nature.  They currently include selections from such albums as:  Yoga Heart Healing, MasterPeace, Harmony in Disarray, Siddartha, Hush and Feel, Gospel Music, Tara Mantras, Soul Calls, The Kyoto Connection, Daughter of Love, Dream World, Buddhist Chanting, Songs For The Soul, Mind Sailing, Timeless Vibrations, Heart of the Mother, Yosemite Suite, Connected, The Cosmic Chants of Paramahansa Yogananda, Marti Walker, Hindu Chants, The Reflecting Pool, Winter Snow and Strings and Root Road Flute.

 

Video

(Large variety of films and videos, historic and modern, documentary and talks)

 

Our Video section currently contains:  The Ocean At Dusk - Guided Relaxation, A Biography of Mother Teresa, Meditation and Movement, Imagination Meditation, Laughter Meditation, Music for Meditation and Healing, A CNN Report on the Health Benefits of Meditation, A Biography of Mary Baker Eddy, A Man of God - An Interview with Leonard Ravenhill, Paramahansa Yogananda & Sri Yukteswar, Paramahansa Yogananda & Ramana Maharshi, Paramahansa Yogananda at Mt. Washington, Paramahansa Yogananda on a Walk In New York, Paramahansa Yogananda Demonstrating How To Sleep, Krishnamurti Talks on Freedom, Krishnamurti Talks on Life and Death, Krishnamurti  Talks on Meditation and Krishnamurti Talks on World Suffering.

 

Still Images

(Nature Pictures, Saints, Sages, Gurus, Mandalas, Chakras, Fine Art)

 

Our collection of pictures is too large to list in detail, but we promise that you will browse for quite some time in order to see them all.

 

Complete Audio Classics

(Complete Plays, Radio Dramatizations, Books Read Aloud

and Stories To Entertain The Entire Family

- With a special collection for children)

 

Our audio classics are dramatic portrayals designed to primarily entertain, but with wholesome content that expresses positive values and that are suitable for the entire family to experience together.  They include such titles as:

 

The Importance of Being Earnest, Treasure Island, A Tale of Two Cities, War of the Worlds, Abraham Lincoln, The Count of Monte Cristo, The Immortal Sherlock Holmes, Around The World In 80 Days, Pickwick Papers, Julius Caesar and Jane Eyre.

 

In addition, there is a special Children's Section containing dramatizations and readings especially created for younger children.  They include such titles as:  The Little Mermaid, Aladdin and the Wonderful Lamp, Jack and The Bean Stalk, Puss and Boots, Blue Beard, Thumbelina, Cinderella, Twas the Night Before Christmas, Snowdrop and the 7 Dwarves, Robin Hood, The Golden Fleece, Beauty and The Beast, Rapunzel, King Arthur, Hansel and Gretel, Sleeping Beauty, The Emperor's New Clothes, The Magic Carpet and many, many more!

 

Wall Paper

(Large Beautiful Pictures with Inspirational Quotes Suitable To Place on The Background of Your Computer Desktop or Screensaver Program.)

 

The images in this section of the newsletter are a few of the selections contained in our Wall Paper Download Library.  To read the inspirational inscriptions, visit us by clicking "Wall Paper" above.

 


 

Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
 joy, wisdom, love and the means to increase them in our lives. 
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Article:  The Law of Miracles      by Paramahansa Yogananda

The ancient Vedic scriptures declare that the physical world operates under one fundamental law of maya, the principle of relativity and duality. God, the Sole Life, is an Absolute Unity; He cannot appear as the separate and diverse manifestations of a creation except under a false or unreal veil. That cosmic illusion is maya. Every great scientific discovery of modern times has served as a confirmation of this simple pronouncement of the rishis.

Newton's Law of Motion is a law of maya: "To every action there is always an equal and contrary reaction; the mutual actions of any two bodies are always equal and oppositely directed." Action and reaction are thus exactly equal. "To have a single force is impossible. There must be, and always is, a pair of forces equal and opposite."

Fundamental natural activities all betray their mayic origin. Electricity, for example, is a phenomenon of repulsion and attraction; its electrons and protons are electrical opposites. Another example: the atom or final particle of matter is, like the earth itself, a magnet with positive and negative poles. The entire phenomenal world is under the inexorable sway of polarity; no law of physics, chemistry, or any other science is ever found free from inherent opposite or contrasted principles.

Physical science, then, cannot formulate laws outside of maya, the very texture and structure of creation. Nature herself is maya; natural science must perforce deal with her ineluctable quiddity. In her own domain, she is eternal and inexhaustible; future scientists can do no more than probe one aspect after another of her varied infinitude. Science thus remains in a perpetual flux, unable to reach finality; fit indeed to formulate the laws of an already existing and functioning cosmos, but powerless to detect the Law Framer and Sole Operator. The majestic manifestations of gravitation and electricity have become known, but what gravitation and electricity are, no mortal knoweth.

To surmount maya was the task assigned to the human race by the millennial prophets. To rise above the duality of creation and perceive the unity of the Creator was conceived of as man's highest goal. Those who cling to the cosmic illusion must accept its essential law of polarity: flow and ebb, rise and fall, day and night, pleasure and pain, good and evil, birth and death. This cyclic pattern assumes a certain anguishing monotony, after man has gone through a few thousand human births; he begins to cast a hopeful eye beyond the compulsions of maya.

To tear the veil of maya is to pierce the secret of creation. The yogi who thus denudes the universe is the only true monotheist. All others are worshiping heathen images. So long as man remains subject to the dualistic delusions of nature, the Janus-faced Maya is his goddess; he cannot know the one true God.

The world illusion, maya, is individually called avidya, literally, "not-knowledge," ignorance, delusion. Maya or avidya can never be destroyed through intellectual conviction or analysis, but solely through attaining the interior state of nirbikalpa samadhi. The Old Testament prophets, and seers of all lands and ages, spoke from that state of consciousness. Ezekiel says (43:1-2): "Afterwards he brought me to the gate, even the gate that looketh toward the east: and, behold, the glory of the God of Israel came from the way of the east: and his voice was like a noise of many waters: and the earth shined with his glory." Through the divine eye in the forehead (east), the yogi sails his consciousness into omnipresence, hearing the Word or Aum, divine sound of many waters or vibrations which is the sole reality of creation.

Among the trillion mysteries of the cosmos, the most phenomenal is light. Unlike sound-waves, whose transmission requires air or other material media, light-waves pass freely through the vacuum of interstellar space. Even the hypothetical ether, held as the interplanetary medium of light in the undulatory theory, can be discarded on the Einsteinian grounds that the geometrical properties of space render the theory of ether unnecessary. Under either hypothesis, light remains the most subtle, the freest from material dependence, of any natural manifestation.

In the gigantic conceptions of Einstein, the velocity of light-186,000 miles per second-dominates the whole Theory of Relativity. He proves mathematically that the velocity of light is, so far as man's finite mind is concerned, the only constant in a universe of unstayable flux. On the sole absolute of light-velocity depend all human standards of time and space. Not abstractly eternal as hitherto considered, time and space are relative and finite factors, deriving their measurement validity only in reference to the yardstick of light-velocity. In joining space as a dimensional relativity, time has surrendered age- old claims to a changeless value. Time is now stripped to its rightful nature-a simple essence of ambiguity! With a few equational strokes of his pen, Einstein has banished from the cosmos every fixed reality except that of light.

In a later development, his Unified Field Theory, the great physicist embodies in one mathematical formula the laws of gravitation and of electromagnetism. Reducing the cosmical structure to variations on a single law, Einstein reaches across the ages to the rishis who proclaimed a sole texture of creation-that of a protean maya.

On the epochal Theory of Relativity have arisen the mathematical possibilities of exploring the ultimate atom. Great scientists are now boldly asserting not only that the atom is energy rather than matter, but that atomic energy is essentially mind-stuff.

"The frank realization that physical science is concerned with a world of shadows is one of the most significant advances," Sir Arthur Stanley Eddington writes in The Nature Of The Physical World. "In the world of physics we watch a shadowgraph performance of the drama of familiar life. The shadow of my elbow rests on the shadow table as the shadow ink flows over the shadow paper. It is all symbolic, and as a symbol the physicist leaves it. Then comes the alchemist Mind who transmutes the symbols. . . . To put the conclusion crudely, the stuff of the world is mind-stuff. . . . The realistic matter and fields of force of former physical theory are altogether irrelevant except in so far as the mind-stuff has itself spun these imaginings. . . . The external world has thus become a world of shadows. In removing our illusions we have removed the substance, for indeed we have seen that substance is one of the greatest of our illusions."

With the recent discovery of the electron microscope came definite proof of the light-essence of atoms and of the inescapable duality of nature. The New York Times gave the following report of a 1937 demonstration of the electron microscope before a meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science:

"The crystalline structure of tungsten, hitherto known only indirectly by means of X-rays, stood outlined boldly on a fluorescent screen, showing nine atoms in their correct positions in the space lattice, a cube, with one atom in each corner and one in the center. The atoms in the crystal lattice of the tungsten appeared on the fluorescent screen as points of light, arranged in geometric pattern. Against this crystal cube of light the bombarding molecules of air could be observed as dancing points of light, similar to points of sunlight shimmering on moving waters. . . .

"The principle of the electron microscope was first discovered in 1927 by Drs. Clinton J. Davisson and Lester H. Germer of the Bell Telephone Laboratories, New York City, who found that the electron had a dual personality partaking of the characteristic of both a particle and a wave. The wave quality gave the electron the characteristic of light, and a search was begun to devise means for 'focusing' electrons in a manner similar to the focusing of light by means of a lens.

"For his discovery of the Jekyll-Hyde quality of the electron, which corroborated the prediction made in 1924 by De Broglie, French Nobel Prize winning physicist, and showed that the entire realm of physical nature had a dual personality, Dr. Davisson also received the Nobel Prize in physics."

"The stream of knowledge," Sir James Jeans writes in The Mysterious Universe, "is heading towards a non-mechanical reality; the universe begins to look more like a great thought than like a great machine." Twentieth-century science is thus sounding like a page from the hoary Vedas.

From science, then, if it must be so, let man learn the philosophic truth that there is no material universe; its warp and woof is maya, illusion. Its mirages of reality all break down under analysis. As one by one the reassuring props of a physical cosmos crash beneath him, man dimly perceives his idolatrous reliance, his past transgression of the divine command: "Thou shalt have no other gods before Me."

In his famous equation outlining the equivalence of mass and energy, Einstein proved that the energy in any particle of matter is equal to its mass or weight multiplied by the square of the velocity of light. The release of the atomic energies is brought about through the annihilation of the material particles. The "death" of matter has been the "birth" of an Atomic Age.

Light-velocity is a mathematical standard or constant not because there is an absolute value in 186,000 miles a second, but because no material body, whose mass increases with its velocity, can ever attain the velocity of light. Stated another way: only a material body whose mass is infinite could equal the velocity of light.

This Conception Brings Us To The Law Of Miracles.

The masters who are able to materialize and dematerialize their bodies or any other object, and to move with the velocity of light, and to utilize the creative light-rays in bringing into instant visibility any physical manifestation, have fulfilled the necessary Einsteinian condition: their mass is infinite.

The consciousness of a perfected yogi is effortlessly identified, not with a narrow body, but with the universal structure. Gravitation, whether the "force" of Newton or the Einsteinian "manifestation of inertia," is powerless to compel a master to exhibit the property of "weight" which is the distinguishing gravitational condition of all material objects. He who knows himself as the omnipresent Spirit is subject no longer to the rigidities of a body in time and space. Their imprisoning "rings-pass-not" have yielded to the solvent: "I am He."

"Fiat lux! And there was light." God's first command to His ordered creation (Genesis 1:3) brought into being the only atomic reality: light. On the beams of this immaterial medium occur all divine manifestations. Devotees of every age testify to the appearance of God as flame and light. "The King of kings, and Lord of lords; who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto."

A yogi who through perfect meditation has merged his consciousness with the Creator perceives the cosmical essence as light; to him there is no difference between the light rays composing water and the light rays composing land. Free from matter-consciousness, free from the three dimensions of space and the fourth dimension of time, a master transfers his body of light with equal ease over the light rays of earth, water, fire, or air. Long concentration on the liberating spiritual eye has enabled the yogi to destroy all delusions concerning matter and its gravitational weight; thenceforth he sees the universe as an essentially undifferentiated mass of light.

 

 

For a collection of affirmations, click Here.
For a large variety of inspiring quotations, click Here.

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Essay:  How Riches Come To You       by Wallace D. Wattles


And finally, because you are to cause the creation of your riches from Formless Substance which permeates all your environment, it does not follow that they are to take shape from the atmosphere and come into being before your eyes.

If you want a sewing machine, for instance, I do not mean to tell you that you are to impress the thought of a sewing machine on Thinking Substance until the machine is formed without hands, in the room where you sit, or elsewhere. But if you want a sewing machine, hold the mental image of it with the most positive certainty that it is being made, or is on its way to you. After once forming the thought, have the most absolute and unquestioning faith that the sewing machine is coming; never think of it, or speak, of it, in any other way than as being sure to arrive. Claim it as already yours.

It will be brought to you by the power of the Supreme Intelligence, acting upon the minds of men. If you live in Maine, it may be that a man will be brought from Texas or Japan to engage in some transaction which will result in your getting what you want.

If so, the whole matter will be as much to that man's advantage as it is to yours.

Do not forget for a moment that the Thinking Substance is through all, in all, communicating with all, and can influence all. The desire of Thinking Substance for fuller life and better living has caused the creation of all the sewing machines already made; and it can cause the creation of millions more, and will, whenever men set it in motion by desire and faith, and by acting in a Certain Way.

You can certainly have a sewing machine in your house; and it is just as certain that you can have any other thing or things which you want, and which you will use for the advancement of your own life and the lives of others.

You need not hesitate about asking largely; "it is your Father's pleasure to give you the kingdom, " said Jesus.

Original Substance wants to live all that is possible in you, and wants you to have all that you can or will use for the living of the most abundant life.

If you fix upon your consciousness the fact that the desire you feel for the possession of riches is one with the desire of Omnipotence for more complete expression, your faith becomes invincible.

Once I saw a little boy sitting at a piano, and vainly trying to bring harmony out of the keys; and I saw that he was grieved and provoked by his inability to play real music. I asked him the cause of his vexation, and he answered, "I can feel the music in me, but I can't make my hands go right." The music in him was the URGE of Original Substance, containing all the possibilities of all life; all that there is of music was seeking expression through the child.

God, the One Substance, is trying to live and do and enjoy things through humanity. He is saying "I want hands to build wonderful structures, to play divine harmonies, to paint glorious pictures; I want feet to run my errands, eyes to see my beauties, tongues to tell mighty truths and to sing marvelous songs," and so on.

All that there is of possibility is seeking expression through men. God wants those who can play music to have pianos and every other instrument, and to have the means to cultivate their talents to the fullest extent; He wants those who can appreciate beauty to be able to surround themselves with beautiful things; He wants those who can discern truth to have every opportunity to travel and observe; He wants those who can appreciate dress to be beautifully clothed, and those who can appreciate good food to be luxuriously fed.

He wants all these things because it is Himself that enjoys and appreciates them; it is God who wants to play, and sing, and enjoy beauty, and proclaim truth and wear fine clothes, and eat good foods. "it is God that worketh in you to will and to do," said Paul.

The desire you feel for riches is the infinite, seeking to express Himself in you as He sought to find expression in the little boy at the piano.

So you need not hesitate to ask largely.

Your part is to focalize and express the desire to God.

This is a difficult point with most people; they retain something of the old idea that poverty and self-sacrifice are pleasing to God. They look upon poverty as a part of the plan, a necessity of nature. They have the idea that God has finished His work, and made all that He can make, and that the majority of men must stay poor because there is not enough to go around. They hold to so much of this erroneous thought that they feel ashamed to ask for wealth; they try not to want more than a very modest competence, just enough to make them fairly comfortable.

I recall now the case of one student who was told that he must get in mind a clear picture of the things he desired, so that the creative thought of them might be impressed on Formless Substance. He was a very poor man, living in a rented house, and having only what he earned from day to day; and he could not grasp the fact that all wealth was his. So, after thinking the matter over, he decided that he might reasonably ask for a new rug for the floor of his best room, and an anthracite coal stove to heat the house during the cold weather. Following the instructions given in this book, he obtained these things in a few months; and then it dawned upon him that he had not asked enough. He went through the house in which he lived, and planned all the improvements he would like to make in it; he mentally added a bay window here and a room there, until it was complete in his mind as his ideal home; and then he planned its furnishings.

Holding the whole picture in his mind, he began living in the Certain Way, and moving toward what he wanted; and he owns the house now, and is rebuilding it after the form of his mental image. And now, with still larger faith, he is going on to get greater things. It has been unto him according to his faith, and it is so with you and with all of us.

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News:  Conscious Money Circulation "Abundant Blessings"
 

Would you like to have a greater feeling of being in the flow of abundance?   Is the activity of paying your bills a time of stress and anxiety for you?  The meditation, affirmations and background music on this CD were created to provide an uplifting and expansive experience of abundance and prosperity while paying bills.

Abundant Blessings © contains a meditation and affirmations for Conscious Money circulation. The meditation guides you within, to a place of centered calm. Affirmations of abundance and gratitude play in the background while you pay your bills or any time that you would like to be uplifted.

Play this CD and transform the mundane into the miraculous as you pay bills with gratitude and JOY!

To find out more about Abundant Blessings, click Here.
 


 

                                           

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News:  First Spanish Products - Conscious Word, Conscious Wisdom and E-books
 

The Conscious Living Foundation is proud to announce the translation of our website into Spanish.  The entire website, with all of our articles, poems, inspiring stories, affirmations, previous newsletters, quotations and affirmations are now available.  We are excited about the prospect of being able to reach others who were unable to share in all of the resources of the site because they didn't read English.  To visit the Spanish language version of our site, click Here.

 

In addition, we have begun creating our first products for those who prefer to read in Spanish.  The Conscious Word and Conscious Wisdom are both now available in a Spanish version. 

 

We have also translated 14 wonderful, inspirational masterpieces and are offering them as E-books in Spanish.  The titles include:

As A Man Thinketh by James Allen
Prosperity by Charles Filmore
The Science of Mind by Ernest Holmes
The Tao Te Ching
A Lamp Unto My Feet by Walter Lanyon
The Science of Getting Rich  by Wallace D. Wattles
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda (2 volumes)
Above Life's Turmoil by James Allen
An Introduction to Yoga by Annie Besant
Teach Us To Pray by Charles Filmore
The Power of Thought by Thomas Hamblin
The Secret Door To Success by Florence Scovel Shin
The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Charles Johnson
Your Word is Your Wand by Florence Scovel Shin

 

This E-book collection in Spanish can be purchased for $7.00 by clicking  Here.

 

He desterrado el pasado

Ahora vivo en el maravilloso presente

Donde regocijantes sorpresas

Llegan envolviendome

Todos los dias.

 

If you have any suggestion on other titles which we should translate, or other languages we should support, we would love to hear from you.  You can email us at: 

  

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News:  Destiny Designer - A Practical Aid To Organize Your Life
 

Even when we read spiritual books; even when we exercise; even when we practice affirmations and positive thinking;
even when we pray and meditate - it is not enough until we undertake these actions - consistently every day. 

If we aren't organized, we aren't committed.


Virtually all organized, responsible business professionals carry them. They are essential.  They are the omnipresent symbols of our busy, complicated lives. They are, of course…day planners. And until now they have performed just two functions, where to be or what to do next: the next meeting, the next event, the next task, the next party, the next phone call...

Now there is the Destiny Designer,™ a breakthrough personal calendar/planner that demands your focus on enhancing the fullness and richness of your life as much as it does managing your daily routine. If you use this one-of-a-kind tool every day, you will create the life you most passionately desire!

In our busy lives we often do that which screams for our attention first, not what truly moves our lives forward in a real and fulfilling way. Destiny Designer™ is designed to keep you centered on what is actually important in your life - not merely what you must get done in your profession.  Find Out More - Click Here.

 

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A Poem by William Simpson -

Thank You Lord

 

When I walk into my work room

And see my day waiting before me,

I remember, and my mind says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When the fleecy clouds of dusk reflect the setting sun

And I am overwhelmed with their beauty,

I remember, and my mind says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When another unexpected occurrence

Reveals Your hidden unearned blessings,

I remember, and my mind says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When my daughter interrupts my prayer

And for a moment I am caught in inner disturbance,

I rejoice, and my heart says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When I am misunderstood and wrongly accused

And I can not explain our difference,

I rejoice, and my heart says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When my intricate plans dissolve in the light of Your unfolding moment,

And my unsurrendered will urges me to push against You again and again

I rejoice, and my heart says,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When a weathered woman with drawn tight-lipped smile

Shouts at her child and draws back her hand to strike,

I am overcome with the agony of Your presence

And my soul prays,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

When a elderly man sits alone in his wheelchair, staring at a blank wall,

Vaguely remembering that he once had a wife and children,

I am overcome with the agony of Your presence

And my soul prays,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

 And as warfare fills thousands of innocent families

With the pain of doubt, confusion, loss, uncertainty and death,

I am overcome with the agony of Your presence

And my soul prays,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

And as this mortal frame shall one day slowly drop to the ground,

And this mouth shall no longer speak,

Perhaps I shall hear Your voice

Echoing throughout my being,

Singing,

“Thank You, Lord”.

 

(From the collection, "From The Path - Verses On The Mystic Journey" click Here for more)

Copyright 2004 by The Conscious Living Foundation, All Rights Reserved

Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
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A Poem by Kahlil Gibran - On Prayer (From The Prophet)

 

Then a priestess said, "Speak to us of Prayer."

And he answered, saying:

You pray in your distress and in your need; would that you might pray also in the fullness of your joy and in your days of abundance.

For what is prayer but the expansion of yourself into the living ether?

And if it is for your comfort to pour your darkness into space, it is also for your delight to pour forth the dawning of your heart.

And if you cannot but weep when your soul summons you to prayer, she should spur you again and yet again, though weeping, until you shall come laughing.

When you pray you rise to meet in the air those who are praying at that very hour, and whom save in prayer you may not meet.

Therefore let your visit to that temple invisible be for naught but ecstasy and sweet communion.

For if you should enter the temple for no other purpose than asking you shall not receive.

And if you should enter into it to humble yourself you shall not be lifted:

Or even if you should enter into it to beg for the good of others you shall not be heard.

It is enough that you enter the temple invisible.

I cannot teach you how to pray in words.

God listens not to your words save when He Himself utters them through your lips.

And I cannot teach you the prayer of the seas and the forests and the mountains.

But you who are born of the mountains and the forests and the seas can find their prayer in your heart,

And if you but listen in the stillness of the night you shall hear them saying in silence,

"Our God, who art our winged self, it is thy will in us that willeth.

It is thy desire in us that desireth.

It is thy urge in us that would turn our nights, which are thine, into days which are thine also.

We cannot ask thee for aught, for thou knowest our needs before they are born in us:

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all."

  

The Conscious Living Foundation is pleased to offer an original 2 CD recording of Kahlil Gibran's mystical masterpiece, "The Prophet".  For complete details and samples from the recording, please click Here.

 

     

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News:  Two New Music CDs:  "Soul Calls" and "Yoga Heart Healing"

 

Spirituality is a quiet inner quality that eclipses all boundaries of land, caste, profession, and religion, - and it manifests in many ways. For those whose spirituality seeks an ever deepening personal peace, the music of the SOUL CALLS provides a peaceful, soothing vibrational environment for the heart and mind of the listener. For those who are actively engaged in the interior life of loving God, the lyrics of the SOUL CALLS affirm the longing for and the presence of the Divine Beloved. Touching the heart of the peace-giver, the spiritual seeker and the devotee alike, the SOUL CALLS take the consciousness within ~ to the place of peace.   Click Here
 

 

 

 

YOGA HEART HEALING was created from the need to heal Anahata, the fourth chakra, considered the seat of universal love.   Anahata is the color green.  Our recording was created to support your practice of yoga, massage and other nurturing and healing activities.

 

Inspired by Dharma teachings from both Hindu and Buddhist wisdom, Yoga Heart Healing will open your heart chakra with its rich vibrant textures of soothing melodic transitions.  - just click Here!

  

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Essay:  Patterns of Codependence  (From CoDependents Anonymous - CODA 12 Step Program)
 
Patterns of behavior, thinking and feeling that may indicate codependent traits:

Denial Patterns:

I have difficulty identifying what I am feeling.

I minimize, alter or deny how I truly feel.

I perceive myself as completely unselfish and dedicated to the well being of others.

 

Low Self Esteem Patterns:

I have difficulty making decisions.

I judge everything I think, say or do harshly, as never "good enough."

I am embarrassed to receive recognition and praise or gifts.

I do not ask others to meet my needs or desires.

I value others' approval of my thinking, feelings and behavior over my own.

I do not perceive myself as a lovable or worthwhile person.

 

Compliance Patterns:

I compromise my own values and integrity to avoid rejection or others' anger.

I am very sensitive to how others are feeling and feel the same.

I am extremely loyal, remaining in harmful situations too long.

I value others' opinions and feelings more than my own and am afraid to express differing opinions and feelings of my own.

I put aside my own interests and hobbies in order to do what others want.

I accept sex when I want love.

 

Control Patterns:

I believe most other people are incapable of taking care of themselves.

I attempt to convince others of what they "should" think and how they "truly" feel.

I become resentful when others will not let me help them.

I freely offer others advice and directions without being asked.

I lavish gifts and favors on those I care about.

I use sex to gain approval and acceptance.

I have to be "needed" in order to have a relationship with others.

 

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News:  New Audio CD - Embracing The Stillness - Lessons In Meditation

 

Embracing The Stillness is a collection of meditation techniques explained and practiced with the Director of The Conscious Living Foundation, William Simpson.

It contains the following tracks:

  1. Discovering The Purpose of Our Lives  (2:29)
  2. How To Meditate  (3:22)
  3. Meditation on a Devotional Phrase  (11:01)
  4. Affirmation for Relaxation and Happiness  (6:45)
  5. Learning the Technique of Meditating on Om  (5:46)
  6. Meditation on Chanting Om  (6:25)
  7. Affirmation for Health, Wealth and Wisdom  (8:28)
  8. Sitting in the Stillness  (3:31)
  9. Affirmation for Perfection, Immortality and Light  (11:25)
  10. Visualization and Prayer for Others  (2:44)
  11. What We Believe  (1:31)

"There is an essential part of our being which exists beyond thought and feeling - pure awareness.  When we can remain present, alert and calm, we discover the fertile ground upon which we can plant the seeds of immediate growth, positive change and joy". 

William Simpson -
from "Embracing The Stillness"

To hear some sample selections from this new recording, click Here.

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Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
 joy, wisdom, love and the means to increase them in our lives. 
Click Here for our special discounts.

 

Essay:  Prayers Related To The 12 Steps
 

 

 

If you enjoy our inspirational stories and articles, be sure to visit our website for more:

Articles on Personal Growth, Health and Positive Change - Click Here.
Inspiring Stories - Click Here.

 

 

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Let's share the gifts for which we are most grateful:
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