Archives: IQTuneUps

Play this game with two or more friends. It can be played with just two people, but three makes the game more entertaining. Explain the game and enlist their hearty support or do not play the game with them. Your friends should be “all for it”, and see it as an interesting experiment to try, and that it will be fun too.

Select a small statue that you have handy (or perhaps even purchase one) for this exercise. The appropriateness of the statue for the game will be almost insignificant if the game is played with heart, but it’s okay to select a statue that harmonizes with your particular game’s intent (explained below). So, if you have a small action figure or some such item, it will do fine.

Here is how the game is played:

You agree with all your friends that whenever any of you see this statue, then that perception, like a string around your finger, will be a signal for you to mentally recite an affirmation. You can all agree on a particular affirmation, but for the purpose of this exercise, use the following affirmation for your first game: “I am so powerful that I can easily change or erase any conditioned response of my mind.”

This affirmation is said, mentally, once, and then the statue is picked up and physically moved to another place where it will “await” one of the other players. Whoever sees it next, does this same mental recitation, and again, moves the statue to another place.

The element of surprising the others with the new location adds to the fun of the game, but the statue should be easily seen. When a player relocates the statue, there should be an attempt to do this without being discovered, so that this surprise element is maintained. No points are awarded. The game is rewarding in and of itself. All win. Agree to a time limit of at least a day, but a week is suggested. After that, have some sort of ceremony to retire this statue, and then choose another if you wish to continue the game with a different affirmation.

Ask yourself:

Did the affirmation become truer for me in any way–such as, it became more believable as a concept, or I gained more confidence that I could “tune myself?”

How much did I enjoy being clever setting up the statue for the other players? Did I feel younger? Did I feel like I was giving them a gift? How much do I play in my daily life?

Did I feel like I was being mentally healthy playing this game?

When I was surprised, how did it feel to be uncertain whom to thank for the pleasant feeling? What did I do with feelings that had no targets? Was I content to radiate the feelings of surprised delight without the payoff of seeing the other player enjoying my surprise?

Who manufactures all my feelings? Can I have wonderful feelings for no reason whatsoever? Do I have to have a reason? Can I cheat and just have great feelings when no one’s looking?

Whenever I saw the statue, was I aware of any permission process occurring? Did I have to tell myself it was okay to feel pleasure, delight, and gratitude? How often in life do I discover an operating law within me that says I should withhold or dampen pleasurable feelings in certain situations or with certain persons? Can I really laugh at a good joke in front of a dying person?

In my daily life, how often do I have to have, or pretend to have, certain emotions? If I were perfectly psychologically healthy, would I ever have an emotion that was disharmonious with my environment?

How often do I have a feeling that I wish I could instantly stop having?

How often do I wish I could have a feeling that I am not having?

In what sense, was I “in love” with the other players?

A modern tale.

GOD APPEARED LAST NIGHT IN MY ROOM!

I immediately begged for mercy. I was not interested in justice AT ALL.

Turns out, He was just visiting–not an official tally-your-quarks-thing. Just a chat. Shortly into the visit, God clicked something off in me, and all of my emotions subsided dramatically, and for most of the visit, I was only a little tenser than a four hundred pound bungee jumper.

God said, “I’ve been watching you since I know when, and you are doing okay. In token of My esteem, I am going to give you something to remember Me by.” Then God extended His hand towards me and materialized a rather small geranium with two pink flowers in a red clay pot.

God said, “It won’t bite. Take it. Take it. I first created this particular geranium before anything else in creation–before earth, before heaven, even before pizza.”

First a visit from God, and then a geranium from God! My emotions at that moment were what you would expect me to have if I had found a winning California Lottery ticket (God) and also a banana split (the geranium if it were edible!)

Spiritual hog that I am, still my trough overflowethed. God said, “Nice chatting. But…,” (looking at His watch). My mind was racing, and-unbelievably, I was speechless. But suddenly, I felt very strongly that I had to give something back to God, and I found my voice at last.

God said, “No, no Coke, thanks, no really, thanks! Really! I’m full. In fact, I am Fullness. By the way, when I created this geranium, I made it from the only material I had handy–that is, My Self. What else did I have to work with, eh? But don’t get too attached to this thing. After all, every THING I ever make is from My Self. But not to worry, I have worked it out so that there is no diminishment of my infinitude. So look, you got the plant. A little water, and it will last a while. But do not feel like you have to worship this plant or anything. Believe Me I did not make this one any differently than I make any THING. And for My sake don’t flip out if it dies. It’s just a plant. So, okay, nice stopping by. Don’t get up. Don’t start a major religion over this visit, eh? (Is God Canadian?) And don’t mess up–you know what I mean. And, since My visit here is something unusual, let Me say in parting that you should sort of continue living your life as you would have had I not visited.”

God vanished, and there was I with THE GERANIUM.

What to do? While it is extremely important to point out that God was obviously telling me that every single speck of creation is sacred omnipresent God-stuff refashioned for our pleasure, and that therefore THE GERANIUM is but one of an almost infinite number of such artifacts, I must also follow his additional bidding to continue to live my life as if He had not visited.

I am therefore pleased to announce that visiting hours for the general public to see THE GERANIUM will be Monday through Saturday 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. Suggested donation: $19.99 adults, $10.99 children under 12. Dust that has been taken off of the leaves of THE GERANIUM is available in beautifully packaged holy micro-baggies–the perfect gift!

Remember, He did not rule out a minor religion.

Ask yourself:

What am I made out of? What is my substance? What would happen if I thought about this a long time?

Am I what I think I am, or is it more true to say I just am? Is there anything wrong with thinking about “me?”

If I were God, how would I go about creating something from absolutely nothing? How could that be possible? Is there any such thing as nothing?

What do I think is holy? How can something be holy? Can I be holy without believing in the holiness of things or believing in God? Have I ever in my life experienced holiness?

If God created everything, why have all religions throughout history selected certain aspects as special or better?

How can it be that I am not holy?If everything is holy, how can I possibly think about war and all the other unholy things?

Why did I think it was funny for God to have a watch? Why do I think God has a body if I think it is silly for God to have a watch? If I think that it would be silly for God to have a body, why would I think that God would bother to have a thought? Why would God have anything to do with anything? Why would I think that God would create at all?

What’s God got up God’s sleeve? Why does God still HAVE that sleeve?

Why would I think it would be silly to offer God a Coke, but feel it was okay to offer my prayers, my life, my soul, my anything to God? What does God do with all these things we keep trying to give to God?

Where does God store everything?

Am I part of God’s garage sale?

Read the sentences below, and, one at a time, after each sentence, check in with your intuition, and see how high the sentence scores on your inner “truth-o-meter.”

I asked for strength, and God gave me difficulties to make me strong.

I asked for wisdom, and God gave me problems to solve.

I asked for prosperity, and God gave me brain and brawn so I could work.

I asked for courage, and God gave me danger to overcome.

I asked for love, and God gave me people to take care of.

I asked for favors, and God gave me opportunities.

I received nothing I wanted.

I received everything I needed.

Ask yourself:

Do I feel, as suggested above, mystically manipulated by unseen forces that guide my life by constantly presenting to me “difficulties, problems, work, danger, people, and opportunities?” How does that sit with my intuition? Does that sound like something God would do to everyone, or are there exceptions? Are there people who are just whizzing through life, unscathed by the  “trials” cited above,  encountering no challenges at all, and having a wonderful life?

Is all of life actually some super therapy session?

If I went to a movie that gave me the exact emotions (intensity, duration, subtlety, circumstances, etc.) that I have felt throughout my life, would I recommend the movie to a friend? Is the drama of life all that much more worth it, because of its travail?

Could life be a whiz for me? Could I sail through everything? Could all of life’s challenges be games to play? Could losing a game merely give an edge to life that otherwise would be flat and too easy?

What’s the difference between an artist who is faced with a blank canvas and me when I am faced with a problem that I am drawing a blank on? Do I look at the blank and say, “Wow, from here I can do anything!” Do I LOVE the wide open expanse that life presents to me, moment by moment?

Just who would I be if I had not had all the problems of life? Could I possibly be who I am now,  without having had to wade through all those “mean people,” “tough teachers,” “screw balls,” “nut cases,” “bullies,” “complete idiots,” “bureaucrats,” and “manipulative ego maniacs?”

When I was five years old and was unable to draw well, did I want anyone to draw my pictures for me? Did I know something back then better than I know it now?

Do I want to know how a movie ends before I see it? Is a problem better if I don’t know how it is going to end?

If I substitute the word “I” for the word “God” in the sentences, would the sentences be any truer? Am I blind to myself? Am I secretly attracting the circumstances of my unfolding life? Am I “a bird” that flocks with tribulations that have “feathers like mine?” Where would I feel more uncomfortable–in a group of people who had a (equally) much lower or a much higher morality than me?

Is it impossible for me to be guided by life, while at the same time I am smirking and winking, because I know it is just another tweaking of my personality by the unseen forces which are ALWAYS good for me? Can I really get the most out of ‘cosmic therapy’ if I don’t really reach the end of my rope, being forced to expand my definitions of myself beyond the ends I believe in at that moment? Should I be even MORE ignorant of the wills and ways of higher powers, just so that my challenge is all the greater for having no feeling that there is an ultimate safety net somewhere underneath me? Is there a catch-22 here?

Have I ever, in my whole life, ever, even once, not decided anything? Even when I am faced with death as a threat if I do not do something, don’t I still have a choice, because I could still choose to die?

Who’s in control here?

This two-part exercise has at least two levels. On the surface, it is what it seems to be, but it is also an extremely effective therapeutic tool. Starting off the exercise with an “easy” memory will teach you about controlling your attention, but later, when you feel it is okay to try it, using “darker material” will show the exercise’s technique’s true power to repair the dissonance in your daily life which are supported by unresolved past issues.

The Exercise and Technique:

Write a word, phrase, or sentence on a slip of paper that reminds you of a specific negative experience in your life–one that still yields uncomfortable emotions, thoughts, and imagery when you remember it. Don’t go all out here. Choose a relatively mildly negative experience.

Turn the paper over, and have it where you can see it for the rest of the day. Every half hour turn it over, read it, and close your eyes. When you close your eyes, you should intend to think about that incident again, but you will also intend to stop thinking about that incident as soon as you know that you are having emotions, thoughts, and imagery about it. When you notice that you are, indeed, attending to that negative incident, then open your eyes immediately, turn the paper back over, intend not to think about that topic any more, and go about your daily life for another half hour.

In other words, this exercise is to develop your ability to move your attention onto, but then off topic, and to stay off topic. As a measure of your progress, each time you do this, try to estimate how many thoughts were produced before you were able to shift to another topic.

Part Two:

If comfortable, and if you are confident you can use this technique, then begin to choose to go a bit deeper into a negative memory to a point of discomfort of your choosing, and then coming off topic by opening your eyes and engaging your mind with another topic. Do this until bored with the negative topic. Try this with progressively more negative memories until you feel you can approach even the most disturbing aspects of your past.

Ask Yourself:

Did I get to the point where I didn’t turn the paper over to start the process?

Did I get better at doing this? What value is there in practicing using my attention muscle? Am I really increasing my ability to change my mind?

How often do I actually use this ability in daily life?

How is this placing of my attention different from when I put my attention on such experiences as a plate of food as it is placed before me in a nice restaurant, a romantic day dream, or listening to a new favorite song?

When I am avoiding a topic do I have to pay attention to something positively distracting, or can I just go about my day without any real sense of having a sense of active avoidance? Has the answer to this question changed over the day?

How has my constant remembering of this experience changed the kind of material my mind comes up with now when I turn over the paper? Has the negativity of it subsided to any degree? Has my mind come up with the same kinds of memories of the incident, or have they differed over the course of the day?

What is the difference between me changing my attention on purpose  and me finding myself on another topic without ever having given my permission to my mind to do that? Which type of attention transitioning do I do most of in daily life? Which one feels more like I did it? Do I actually change my mind when it happens automatically? What is the difference between the me that changes my mind on purpose and the me that has a mind that changes?

What would life be like if I never purposefully placed my attention and only went with whatever happened automatically?

When I willfully put my attention on something, why am I so certain that I actually did that on purpose, that is, how do I know that that transition was willful and not just a subtler but nonetheless automatic process?

When a phone rings, my mind goes to that experience effortlessly, yet as an infant this was not always the case. Are all my automatic shifts actually just learned responses? What happens all around me that does NOT grab my attention? How did I set that up?

To what would I find myself attending if all my past were erased? How would that differ from the attending processes of a newborn infant?

When I consider my daily life’s content composed of the attender, the attending process, and that which is attended to, is there something missing or is that ALL of my life?

Scientific research has definitely proven that we all have dreams throughout the night, and yet, most of those experiences are not remembered. Is that which attends to my unremembered dreams the same attender to my daily life? Do I have to be able to remember having had an experience (been consciously there) in order to say it happened to me? If so, then who is having my dreams, and if not, then am I leading a double life?

Think about the concept of NOW. Try to define it as precisely as possible with a sentence or two. Take a few minutes to do this.

Only read the following after you have defined the word NOW.

Done?

Okay. Consider this aspect about time–that it is said to “pass,” and that this is known to happen when two events are separately noted as not being simultaneous. If you start counting aloud, you know that time passes between the spoken words “one,” “two,” etc. No matter how fast you count, you still know that some time passed between the utterances. Next, consider that any two thoughts that you have in a row are two mental events and that you know that time passes between the two thoughts. Also, note that you do not seem to have the ability to have two thoughts simultaneously.

Try it first by counting aloud and then just mentally to experience these short pieces of time.

Now, consider that objects are actually events or sets of events. In fact, modern science assures us that all the particles of matter that compose anything are in constant motion. It is said that everything is ephemeral, exactly like a figure eight made by the fast moving of a flashlight’s spot on a wall. It may seem that the figure eight is there, but in actuality, it is a series of images being reported to our brains in rapid succession. The essential nature of the figure eight is that of a spot of light, and when it is photographed by a very fast camera, amazingly, not a single quality of “eightness” will be seen in the photograph.

Just so, all objects, if viewed from a perceptual standpoint that is precisely NOW will seem to have none of the qualities that they have over time. In fact, logically speaking, the figure eight, as well as all objects, do not exist when solely seen in the instantaneous NOW.

Finally, consider the fact that, despite all of this, you feel yourself to be here and NOW.

Read the above a few times. Run it through your nervous system to let it soak into your definitions and concepts about ALL THIS and YOU.

After you’ve reread the above, read these questions:

Ask Yourself:

What am I when seen by a super-fast “camera” that captures “me” between thoughts? (Super-fast camera could also be expressed as the “instantaneously perceptions of the mind of God, or The Universe.”) What do I believe myself to be over time that is simply not the case NOW?

Are my thoughts “time-bound?” Does each one of them take time? Is each thought a series of smaller chemical events? What is it like to experience a thought NOW?

How can I know that time passes without also having the ability to be there when it doesn’t pass? Can time pass without me knowing it?

Am I beyond time? Is time itself an object that I observe from some transcendental standpoint? If I “am” NOW, am I not beyond time?

If I use my eyes to see a scene with many objects in it, and I recognize that my view contains many objects, am I having many thoughts at once? Can I actually be aware of the existence of multiple objects simultaneously? Would this be possible if my awareness was not in the NOW?

What part of me insists that I am a series of events (thoughts, emotions, memories, sensations, perceptions, etc.) when I so clearly exist in between  thoughts, too? Is that part of me necessary? Do I have to be a time-bound thing?

Am I a single point of consciousness that illuminates ALL THIS with a fast moving spotlight of awareness? How would I go about experiencing my awareness in action? Can I take the flashlight in my own hands and make my own figure eights? Am I, in fact, doing that ALL THE TIME, er….right NOW?

Why do I believe in the sound of trees as they fall in forests I am not in?

Create a phrase or sentence that expresses a general feeling of gratitude. It could be “I gratefully accept this gift of _____.” Choose some words that work best for you.

Now, whenever you “get something” during daily life, use the phrase and fill in the blank.

Use this for even the smallest of things received, events experienced, memories rekindled, etc. Your goal is to create a knee-jerk pattern of gratitude that will gradually become a background emotion that will always be there to immediately pick-up on life’s bounties.

Practice this faithfully, and it will improve your life significantly. There’s nothing like an overflowing heart.

Ask Yourself:

Is it this simple? Can I go around all day being thankful for big and little things? Can I totally swamp myself with gratitude? Could I be THAT happy?

Can I start a gratitude avalanche with tiny snowball efforts like this?

What is gratitude? Is it a form of happiness? Can young infants be grateful?

Is my life more a gift to me than it is a paycheck for all my hard work? Could I ever see ALL THIS as one enormous present?

Are my thoughts presents to me? Who’s giving?

If I had a dream in which I, as a dream character, experienced gratitude after receiving a gift, would that be the same as the waking me doing it? Would it have the same effect on my personality?

The following imagined series of events in this exercise might be disturbing to some persons. Caution is advised. It turns out well in the end, but the process may be too graphic for some.

Imagine that some fantastic genie appears before you and says, “I’m going to gradually reduce you to nothing.” The genie snaps his (her?) fingers and suddenly your arms disappear. No bleeding–they’re just gone! With a wicked grin, the genie says, “That’s just for starters! I bet you feel a lot less like a full human being now!”

Next the genie magically snaps again and suddenly your legs, nose, hair, tongue, teeth, tonsils, appendix, gall bladder, spleen, one lung, one kidney, one ear, one eye and many other parts have been shed.

“There. Now we’re getting somewhere,” says the genie. “I’ll bet NOW you feel like you’re not a full human being! I’ll just read your mind from this point on. Now do you feel less deserving of the right to use the word ‘me’?”

“Wait!” says the genie. “I know you think you are still there, enough. Well, I’m just getting started.” Next the genie snaps and suddenly (you’re certain it is true but you don’t know how it happened) you find that you no longer can do even simple arithmetic.

“How’s that? Now you’re numerically challenged, too!”

While you’re considering a response, the genie starts snapping again, and in quick succession, you find yourself without 90% of your vocabulary, the chronological order of the events of your life is missing (you have no idea what came when,) and 99% of your creativity is missing.

Now I’ve got you running scared, eh? Not much left of you there.”

Before you can start speaking, the genie snaps again, and all memories of your life disappear except for the last few minutes with the genie.

“How’s that? Do you still think you’re ‘real’? What are you pointing to when you think the word ‘me’? And here’s the bad news, I am a very clever genie. Now, I’m going to remove the rest of your body, and by my powerful magic you will only be a thinker.” The genie snaps, and instantly you are without memory of anything. You have no body to sense anything of any sort whatsoever, and all you can experience is the mental sound of the genie telepathically laughing at you.

“Now you’re really gone! All I’ve left you is the ability to be aware of my words,” says the genie. “Why would you possibly have any use for the word ‘me’ now? But wait, don’t bother answering. Now, for the next thirty seconds, you won’t even be able to think a single thought or have an emotion or any kind of sensation whatsoever. I’ll even stop talking!”

For thirty seconds (the genie keeps track of time for you with his Rolex), you experience no bodily sensations, no thoughts, no emotions, no desires, no memories, nothing. All that remains is a “readiness,” an awareness that could receive something if anything was to be presented to it.

Suddenly, you’re back with your entire body and all mental faculties intact.

The genie says, “That last one got you, right? You human beings, so dependent on physical and mental possessions. Take them away and you are nothing.”

Before you respond to the genie,

Ask Yourself:

What is it that I mean by the word “me”? If I am reduced to mere awareness without any experience being registered, am I still me? In the purest sense, what is “me”?

Would “me” be unaffected by these kinds of changes?

What is the minimum required amount of body that I would have to have to consider myself to be a human being? If I were a living brain in a jar would I be a person?

What accumulated knowledge and intellectual skills must I minimally possess to feel like I can call myself a person? If I am in a dreamless coma–a coma from which I will someday fully recover–am I a person? Do I have a spirit? Am I “there”?

When did I first become “someone” with a “me”?

Given that most humans gradually experience a loss of various faculties and bodily functioning throughout a lifetime, is ordinary life any different from the genie’s machinations?

What is the relationship between “me” and my experiences? Why would something (me) that is so intangible have any reason to associate with experiences? When an experience has happened, how is any benefit to “me” accrued? Where’s the profit to “me” in this association? Does anything physical or mental change “me” or “add to me”? How are my possessions “attached” to “me?”

What is the difference between having my thoughts and emotions reflecting or describing the existence of “me” and the actual experience of “me” without any descriptive experiences happening? Are thoughts about “me” necessary for “me” to exist?

How does the word “me” evolve as I grow older? When I was three years old I spoke this sentence: “Give that to me.” How would the word “me” differ in meaning if I said this sentence today?

Why do I need a body, a personality, a life? What’s in it for “me”?

Try to remember the most loving thought you had in the last five minutes.

Then work your way back in time over the last week, and see how many incidents you can recall that were in some way easily identifiable as “loving.” Make a list, with enough details included, so that you can easily remember these moments again in the future should you reread the list.

Try to get up to at least twenty items, no matter how far back you have to go.

Ask Yourself:

What is the average amount of loving thoughts I have per hour, or per day?

What makes my love fade? What does this “fade” mean? Why did I know what this question was asking?

Should I write a list like this for every day of my life? What would the payoff be to doing that?

Am I only loving someone when I actually have the loving thoughts/feelings running through my mind? Can I be in love even when I am not having mental experiences that I label as loving?

When I am deeply sleeping–without dreams or thoughts of any sort–do I still love my loved ones? During sleep, is the “waking me” responsible and accountable for my lack of attention on my loved ones? Why do I hold myself to be responsibly attentive during the day, and then turn right around and completely abandon ALL THIS for hours every night? How does all that make sense?

Is it possible for me to love without there being an object towards which that love is projected? Can I just love the whole world without having a more specific target?

What is the difference between attention and love? When I am paying attention to something, am I loving it to at least some, however small, degree in that I am honoring it by spotlighting it with my consciousness?

What is the difference between me and my attention? Where would this “me” be in deep, dreamless, sleep? Or, in a coma?

Am I pure love? Do I just “gotta have” EVERYTHING that perception and memory and imagination bring to me? Do I just gobble life? Have I ever been a picky eater?

Do my senses have ANY off switches? Am I really built to always have this open door policy? How would I go about getting away from the office? If my nervous system were an employee of mine, would it be asking for a vacation?

How do I pay attention to attention?

Another ancient story: a confession.

Years ago, perhaps in the late seventies, as you may well imagine, I was a person somewhat unlike my present self.

Once, with my car in the repair shop, I was driving a rented car, and by happenstance, while at a red light, I noticed that my very best friend had pulled his car up behind me. I saw him clearly in my rearview mirror, and it was quite easy to see his face and expressions. I knew he did not know who was in front of him. I was driving the wrong car! He could not be blamed for not recognizing the back of my head, which was hardly seen. He could not feel my great love beaming to him. With all the vastness of the world in his eyes, I did not feel slighted.

There is a dark side that all of us play with, and that morning, well, no other way to say it, but “that old devil swept me up”, and instantly I knew my friend was about to have a defining experience that he and I would remark about for years. Indeed, here even now, at this late date, I tell this story to you, and I promise you too will share it with us and will understand why I tell it.

When the light turned green, I very slowly drove forward. Very slowly. I glanced at my watch and knew exactly where my best friend was going at that time of day. I knew with certainty he wanted to get there in short order. He’s always so prompt! And I knew my friend’s rope and how close he often was to one end of it. Did I mention that there was really only one way to get to his office?

But I was in no hurry. I was at least nine million lifetimes old, I figured, and it was about time to slow down. Way down. Way, way down. And, did I mention that this was a very busy two way street, and that my friend had utterly no hope of passing me?

He drove close to my rear bumper almost immediately. I knew why. He was pressuring me with his violation of my sense of autospace. I watched his face in the mirror. With glee. Oh yes, brothers and sisters, with glee I watched, for I was the dark-side’s toy that morning as I thought maybe fifty-seven thoughts a second about how I could get him angrier and angrier. Maybe even seventy-nine thoughts if you counted the glee thoughts.

Right now, some of those glee thoughts are dancing in me. I have recreated them in me now, just so I can decide which ones to tell you about. When you start smiling, that’ll be the glee thoughts polkawaltzing with your neurotransmitters. I see that some of you have already smiled; see how quickly you used your psychic abilities?

So I drove slowly. I knew I wasn’t driving slowly enough, because my friend had not yet beeped his horn. But I knew there were other things that an extremely cautious nine hundred million year old driver might also do that a forty year old lawyer might not readily accept as the wisdom of the universe. But let me tell you a secret; it was the wisdom of the universe, indeed, it was pure knowledge emanating from that situation that day. Perhaps you’ll know this when I tell you how I almost turned left at a corner, and then, well, I decided to continue straight ahead after about 30 seconds of waiting for the traffic to clear.

I could easily see my friend’s happiness in the mirror as he patiently waited for the traffic to clear, knowing that at least I would be out of his way. And I could easily see his face when I decided to continue straight down the road towards his office. I think you can see his face too, can’t you? See, that’s a glee thought! Did I mention I was driving slowly?

May I skip the eloquent portrayal of his increasing anger? May I skip how I almost parked, almost sped up for a half a block, almost turned again, and finally slowed down for a green light and was caught by the yellow and all manner of other things? No? I shouldn’t skip them? Okay, glad I wrote them down already. Your imagination has already written in the details…..gleefully, too I suspect, but so eloquently you imagine!

So let us get to the final moment. Yes, my friend is now seething with anger, and I am almost unfit to drive, because I am laughing so hard and desperately trying not to show him my body shuddergiggling, so that I could maintain the pretense of being someone quite other than he imagined. I didn’t want him to know how much I loved him. That would have spoiled it. Don’t you aglee with me? I imagine now your face as you do.

So finally, finally, we come to the exact intersection where I knew there were two lanes, one for forward and one for right hand turning. I pulled into the right hand turn lane and, of course, got caught by the red light there and had to come to a full stop. My friend immediately pulled his car up next to me. Can you imagine my glee? I tell you that at this moment I am blasting happiness at such a rate that my car is about to enter the astral realm from the vibrations alone, my clothing is becoming conscious, and the hair on my head is forming a democracy. I am the entire universe singing!

At the exact instant where my friend arrives at that point where he has the angle to see my face, I turn and blast him with his best friend’s happiness. I think you can see his face, can’t you?

I do not need to tell you how he instantly transforms from a murderer-to-be to the second happiest guy in the world. He knows instantly from my happiness what has happened.

Now here is the sad part: I did not feel his anger disappear. I did not feel the rush of the surprise. I did not feel the contrast, the relief, or the sun rising in his heart. All I knew that day was pure love, but my friend, my precious friend, knew all things in an instant when time stood still for him at last. How complete he felt in that moment, yes, that completeness, I missed that, that day.

Ask Yourself:

What do I think about this prank? Have I ever had an opportunity to feel like my friend felt?

Has life ever gotten me angry, and it turned out that I was misinterpreting the intent of others?

Is it possible that this life is one big practical joke on me? If it was, how could I find out?

Do I really need to interpret all the qualities of life as being manifested from pure love, before I’ll understand completeness? Can I just cheat at it? Can I just surrender to life and enjoy the joke NOW?

How happy would I have to be to forgive the pressuring of the world as it rides my bumper? How good do all my intentions have to be to have such certainty?

Where do my good intentions come from? How do I support the production of life supporting feelings?

How can I turn my beliefs into actions? How many actions in a row can I do that are direct manifestations of my beliefs?

Is God the loving creator or all my problems?

Who’s driving the universe just a fraction of a second ahead of me?

Close your eyes and imagine seeing a tree with your inner eye.

Imagine touching this tree and experiencing the tactile aspects of it. While you are doing this, ask the tree questions about itself. It may seem silly, but go ahead and do it anyway.

While doing this, note changes in the tree’s qualities, such as, textures, colors, spatial orientation, etc. Note how the imagery changes as your interest and attention changes and/or continues. See if the tree has any secrets to yield. Note any emotions that come up or ways that the tree might be triggering memories.

Try other imagined objects too–dog, modern painting, a library shelf, etc.

Ask Yourself:

Does this seemingly silly exercise have depth for me? Can almost any experience I have, using my imagination, contain symbolism about my psychological and spiritual dynamics?

Just what was that tree anyway? How is it that I thought of it as a separate entity and not just “mental stuff?” Why do I separate “mental objects” (such as found in this exercise and my dreams) at all? Aren’t they all seamlessly one solid mental event, and isn’t it only my mind’s auxiliary conceptualization that makes it seem they are separate? How much of my daily life involves this sort of thing? Why, while watching movies or reading a book, do I insist that a contiguous flow of data bits must be segmented into discrete units?

How do my interest and attention change my real life experiences? Am I constantly changing my filters and evaluators in such a way that how I perceive my environment is a direct measurement of my inner dynamics? Is this always the case, or does it mostly occur only when I am experiencing strong emotions?

Can I see my world at all? Or, is reality so contorted, colored, disregarded, enhanced, etc. that I am more its author than it is my muse?

If I could, and actually did, stop segregating reality into a grand illusion of separate objects, what would that be like? If I stopped all evaluations, would that be a good thing?

How effortless was this? Once set in motion, did I really have to push very hard to keep it going? In this regard, how can I claim authorship, except in those flickering moments when I restarted the exercise? Who does most of my life?