Workbook Lesson 25.
I do not know what anything is for.
Purpose is meaning. Today's idea explains why nothing you see means anything. You do not know what it is for. Therefore, it is meaningless to you. Everything is for your own best interests. That is what it is for; that is its purpose; that is what it means. It is in recognizing this that your goals become unified. It is in recognizing this that what you see is given meaning.
You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you. This false identification makes you incapable of understanding what anything is for. As a result, you are bound to misuse it. When you believe this, you will try to withdraw the goals you have assigned to the world, instead of attempting to reinforce them.
Another way of describing the goals you now perceive is to say that they are all concerned with "personal" interests. Since you have no personal interests, your goals are really concerned with nothing. In cherishing them, therefore, you have no goals at all. And thus you do not know what anything is for.
Before you can make any sense out of the exercises for today, one more thought is necessary. At the most superficial levels, you do recognize purpose. Yet purpose cannot be understood at these levels. For example, you do understand that a telephone is for the purpose of talking to someone who is not physically in your immediate vicinity. What you do not understand is what you want to reach him for. And it is this that makes your contact with him meaningful or not.
It is crucial to your learning to be willing to give up the goals you have established for everything. The recognition that they are meaningless, rather than "good" or "bad," is the only way to accomplish this. The idea for today is a step in this direction.
Six practice periods, each of two-minutes duration, are required. Each practice period should begin with a slow repetition of the idea for today, followed by looking about you and letting your glance rest on whatever happens to catch your eye, near or far, "important" or "unimportant," "human" or "nonhuman." With your eyes resting on each subject you so select, say, for example:
I do not know what this chair is for.
I do not know what this pencil is for.
I do not know what this hand is for.
Say this quite slowly, without shifting your eyes from the subject until you have completed the statement about it. Then move on to the next subject, and apply today's idea as before.
Previous Workbook Lessons: <1.|2.|3.|4.|5.|6.|7.|8.|9.|10.|11.|12.|13.|14.|15.|16.|17.|18.|19.|20.
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Comments: 7
"Purpose is meaning. Today's idea explains why nothing you see means anything. You do not know what it is for."
Where did THAT come from? You do not KNOW me, have never MET me, do not know my BACKGROUND, do not know my HISTORY, yet you seem to assume I 'do not know what it is for,' yet, you, 'Robin,' whom I'VE never met, know little or nothing about, can tell me what I am thinking. How do you do it?
People assume power because others they speak to let them have it, allow them to say anything they want, do anything that is required. While this is OK fo the person who is taking charge, it is healthy to question everything. One of the most important lessons I have learnt is to 'Be Aware, The Whole Time.' It is good advice, rather than drift through life without a sense of direction, be blown around by others, with THEIR causes, THEIR goals, THEIR directions; then, one day, wake up one morning wondering where the hell life went!
"You perceive the world and everything in it as meaningful in terms of ego goals. These goals have nothing to do with your own best interests, because the ego is not you." Here again, you tell me how I perceive the world, almost telling me you know what I'm thinking before I do, or is it the subconscious you understand better; now THAT would be magic, if you new my particular subconscious! You tell me what is NOT in my best interests, how interesting to have that judgement, that power...or rather, to ASSUME you have. My ego is MY ego, we all have one, it's what gives us motivation.
"THE EGO
There is a misconception in this day and age that the ego is a bad thing that must be subdued or banished from our being… however, by doing this we are only ignoring a part of ourselves that is as relevant as any other… by casting out pieces of our soul, we find ourselves in states of imbalance in which we may become incomplete and lost. If we stay in these states too long, soul retrieval may become necessary in order to make ourselves whole again.
The ego is only negative when it is unrecognised and/or uncontrolled. Pride, anger and ambition are all very natural human states that need to be understood, accepted and loved for what they are… they need to be welcomed into our lives as a part of who we are. When accepted and dealt with, these ego traits are felt and channelled positively, allowing us to find our power centre and to grow stronger within ourselves - pride becomes self-love (not a bad thing!), anger becomes grounded and ambition instils in us a sense of worth. When repressed, these traits are channelled negatively and become self-destructive – pride turns to arrogance, anger to hatred and ambition to selfishness in achieving the goal.
It is important to note that the ego is essential in providing us with our identity and individuality. Without it, we would have no sense of self. Modern society is a place in which we are taught to follow the flock – "unchristian" values are frowned upon and we are encouraged to put ourselves down for it is seen as the "nice" thing to do, thus we live in a world where depression is ripe and stress is the highest killer… and we could help ourselves to avoid this if we only gave our ego a little nourishment, just a small acknowledgement that it exists. When you begin to see your ego for what it really is – something that cannot be separated from you – you will begin to see yourself as a unique being that, although equal to all others, is completely different to everyone else on the planet. There is only one of you, and that is a great feat worth celebrating.
Some of us will need to learn how to boost our egos, some of us will need to learn how to subdue it - but in both cases, the key is to first RECOGNISE it, then ACCEPT it as part of ourselves - the last thing we must do is pretend that it does not exist... what we like to ignore likes to turn around and bite us on the arse! This is your Higher Self's way of saying, "Hello...?! Am I awake down there?! I need to be paying attention to this!!!"
In this day and age, not enough people get told, "it's okay to be you..."
Unconditional acceptance of the self (including all of its negativities) leads to unconditional acceptance of others, for with it comes the realisation that we are all the same, and all completely different.
When we work with the ego in this way, something amazing happens... we begin to transcend it... and the ego learns bit by bit how to grow more humble... how to work with humility. And so the ego and the spirit combine, teaching each other that there is a time for identity and self-confidence and there is a time for self-release and vulnerability... the two are combined, like dark and light... one state cannot exist without the other. (http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/WitchWays/page5.html)
By the way, that wasn't written by me.
Your ideas are like an avalanche of sentences, one tumbling after another, each sentence almost making sense until it is taken to pieces.
Thank you for your thoughts; enjoy mine.
Peace.
They are NOT my ideas, though I agree with them, if you want to know more about the Course please Click Here
I have been in Gather for a long time and indoctrination doesn't appeal, as you would have gathered.
Even at the conversational level you are free to NOT comment and so NOT involve yourself something you find unappealing in the first instance??
Peace.