Our self- created “Straw Man” JSG

Joel Solomon Goldsmith

I F . W E . C O U L D . J U S T . S T E P . B A C K

If we would step back and take a long look at our little lives – our fashioned selves that fail miserably to obey us when we most need it, whose emotions connect not one iota with our aspirations, we’d want one thing only: to see it destroyed.

“Joel talks about the “straw man.” And that’s us in our humanhood: a straw man that we’ve created, the human sense of “I.” And it’s non-existent: there is no such person.

“There is no such being: there aren’t any human beings.

“We are spiritual being. So this little “I” is non-existent – a straw man that world mind has built and we’ve personalized it!

“This “I” that we have built up, that we’re struggling so hard to maintain, support, heal, has no existence at all. There’s no such thing. But we’re trying to maintain it instead of letting it go, and instead of realizing there’s only One I and It is Self-maintained, Self-sustained.

“All the fears, and emotions, and illnesses, lacks – all the human problems – are the problems of this straw man; they aren’t of spiritual identity. They’re of this creation that we’ve drawn humanly in world mind.

“An imaginary person has no real existence whatever.

“And we spend our whole human life trying to take care of this straw man we’ve made. It’s a selfhood apart from God. And we’ve been wanting all the qualities of God for it, and no problems, no errors, and of course, it cannot be done.
Luella Overeem
1991 Green Bay Easter Class”

DrRobinStarbuck

Honesty

Definitions

W H Y . I S . H O N E S T Y . S O O O . H A R D . ?

If we have just caught wind of a topic or teacher(s), why do we feel we have to pretend to know them well? All of our comments and posts everywhere – and our sheer lack of real understanding – prove otherwise!

Why can’t we let our followers know we’re brand new at the topic and DON’T KNOW the background, the subtleties, the training of the topic when we’re not committed to it enough to dig in and prove it? Why do we want to spoil it for everyone else who has grown to trust us? They need nothing but the truth.

When we have a golden opportunity to act as a model student for others, why don’t we have the courage to do just that? We could be such a tremendous blessing – a true help to others who are beginning – if we would only stop pretending.

Time alone doesn’t give us the right that honest studying and honest applying alone can afford.

DrRobinStarbuck

Nanci Danison’s Afterlife Experience

reincarnation
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4

4 parts, about 9 min each. She had 3 books and a YouTube channel of her own. Died in 1994 and came back.

W H E N . S O M E T H I N G . F E E L S . R I G H T

I’m no NDE, OBE or afterlife expert by a longshot. What’s ringing true for me is how it’s impacting my meditations at present. You know how you can sense the truth (if you’re tuned into it) in this realm? Everything fits together just right and answers come out of it. Well, in my experience with trusting Spirit, I find wonderful answers to my incessantly questioning my own meditating. Spirit, God, is infinite, good, Omniscience, Omnipresence – ALL AT THE SAME TIME. We are everywhere present simultaneously, but so what? – I thought. Now I feel it. Being absolutely everywhere – as God is – was too much for this little mortal mind to handle. But this omnipotent, all-knowing, all-acting, eternal mind knows and loves everything and everyone with the tenderest compassion. That’s what’s coming through to me in a place that I trust.

DrRobinStarbuck

After watching the Nanci Danison afterlife videos twice and having become even more excited about enlightenment, I asked mySelf what if anything I should do differently. Nanci’s discussion reassured me that my path and methodology are perfect but that I’ll laugh at both some day, finding SO MUCH !! — EVERYTHING IN FACT !! — all playing at once and myself totally able to deal with EVERY WONDERFUL THING at the same time! Never a conflict! Absolute rest! Sublime unquenchable joy!
Goodness gracious what an incredible meditation boost!
(Ty again cc)

God in Krishna & Buddha FJ

Frank Johnson

There is only one Source of Life. You may call it God or you may call it Infinite Consciousness, it does not matter. The point being, there is no Life apart from the One Life. Jesus did not have more of God in him than Buddha, Krishna or any other human being; Jesus was/is simply a model of who we all are. This is not something you merely believe, it’s the reality of which we become aware when we awaken within just as Jesus became aware some time during the early years of his life.”


Frank Johnson

I found this gem on one of my posts, made a meme out of it and the latter went viral.

DrRobinStarbuck

How much can you give up?

Awareness early

M O S T . V A L U A B L E . C H A L L E N G E

I have a really great challenge for you: a checklist of your ability to let go of earthbound treasures. Choose one thing – maybe popularity (or money, or status, or home, or family, or …) – and demonstrate fully, fairly and finally your willingness to let it go if you are actually called upon to do so.

How attached are you to this earthly hook? Why are you so scared to let it go?

If you can possibly get that brutally honest with yourself – deeply, over hours of soul-searching – you’ll be totally shocked, amazed, gobsmacked and changed by the experience.

A rather sad but true story: I had a dear friend who had landed the New York City penthouse apartment of his dreams. He loved it so much, took such delight in fixing it up so beautifully, boasted that it was actually part of Manhattan’s skyline.

I felt so very, very strongly that he needed to protect it with just this type of soul-searching prayer. I was shocked at his flat-out refusal to let God into the picture. He didn’t even want me to pray about it.

I hadn’t seen this friend again for quite some time, and when I did, he had relocated and was too ashamed to tell me. He couldn’t believe he could be evicted from his beautiful home just because his many cats and dog made too much noise.

Of course I never mentioned this to him, but it would have been a very simple matter for God to communicate that people’s complaints had to be taken very seriously and told him exactly how to take care of it.

What do you have that you treasure more than Spirit, Truth, Universe, God? What indeed? At least be aware of it.

It’s the reason you haven’t yet broken through.

DrRobinStarbuck

See through the body HF

Herb Fitch

S E E I N G . T H R O U G H . T H E . O B S T A C L E

“Now, the greatest obstacle, of course, is the image of the human body. It is a very difficult image to release, mostly because you are walking in one. Suppose you were to look into a TV screen and see a human form doing something on the screen. And now in your mind’s eye, just enlarge that screen to life size so that, that figure you are looking at is about 5’6” whatever it’s doing, just look at a five feet six figure but it is on a television screen. Now take away the television screen and keep looking at the figure. If there were no screen there would you know if that were just a figure on the screen or not? You might accept it as the real thing, if you couldn’t see the screen or the cabinet around it, especially if it were life-size. Now, Jesus saw every form on earth that way. All walking on an invisible television screen, all concept, all responding to stimuli they knew not of, all saying I am flesh and blood. All unaware, that they were controlled. All unaware, that they were not the Divine image and likeness of God. All unaware of their own True-self which is the Divine image and likeness of God.”

Herb Fitch
The Infinite Way Book Study
1969

Let’s try by whatever means is available to see through the belief in matter, especially material bodies, and behold ourselves in Divine Spirit with entirely spiritual bodies.

DrRobinStarbuck

Wisdoms of the sages

Philosophers

“To know that you are a prisoner of your mind, that you live in an imaginary world of your own creation is the dawn of wisdom. To want nothing of it, to be ready to abandon it entirely, is earnestness.”
~ Nisargadatta

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”
~ Socrates

“The end of all wisdom is love, love, love.”
~ Ramana Maharshi

“Freedom lies not in external circumstances; freedom resides in the heart. When you have attained wisdom, who can enslave you?”
~ Anthony de Mello

“Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue.”
~ Buddha

“Some come to the spiritual life because of suffering, some in order to understand life; some come through a desire to achieve life’s purpose, and some come who are men and women of wisdom. Unwavering in devotion, always united with me, the man or woman of wisdom surpasses all the others.”
~ Bhagavad Gita

Check mental malpractice

Mental malpractice

C H E C K . M E N T A L . M A L P R A C T I C E

Here’s a tip that can jumpstart your effectiveness in healing and helping. If you catch yourself thinking “I wouldn’t deal with that issue the way that person is”, correct yourself. Don’t leave it alone until you’ve dealt with mental malpractice in yourself.

You can lovingly support another person’s work and move on without any thought about it being ineffective. In other words let’s not put negative thoughts out there at all: correcting your own judgmental mindset is bound to help everyone concerned by purifying the mental atmosphere.

DrRobinStarbuck

Evicting error

Advanced spirituality

E V I C T I N G . E R R O R

A choice exists between two general approaches of ridding oneself of major errors – recognized but not yet realized – that endlessly assault one’s thinking. Let the ‘thoughts’ pass on by with no reaction on your part OR face them down – one by one – until they give up the ghost!

Actually these two approaches – if assiduously adhered to – can work in concert, proving quite compatible. The temporary – but future – goal is discernment.

You see, recurring thoughts that have had years of refinement, when finally rooted out, leave evidence of major healing – a time for great celebration! No less important is putting the ‘lesser’ errors on notice that they’re being accorded one last showcasing on the movie screen of your mind while you usher them out sans the fanfare or mental comment.

Either approach works perfectly if chosen deliberately and decisively. But the greatest approach of all is yet to come, whose function is to upstage the former two while supplanting them altogether, and here it is:

Start with the answer: focus on the Absolute and stay there. There is no material universe to begin with, to be tormented by or to give any thought to regarding the future. All is Spirit and spiritual. It’s not only possible but it’s incumbent upon you to see the infinite ever-presence of the Only Universe that exists: the Supreme Conscious Awareness in all and through all and instead of every illusion.

DrRobinStarbuck

Carnal mind quits

Answered Prayer!

BY THE WAY,
if you have been “in the Work” for quite some time now and you’re getting unwanted feelings of doubt and fear – that’s a good thing. That’s right, a good thing!

The carnal mind does not like what you’ve been doing: you’re a threat to its existence! Would you want to have something hanging around that is a threat to your existence?

So hold to your guns and don’t back down. You have the mind of Christ – not religion, but love and power. You’ll soon learn to laugh at the nutty insinuations that the human mind throws at you and watch them evaporate!

DrRobinStarbuck