In no other period of history were the learned so mistrustful of the divine possibilities in man as they are now. GOPI KRISHNA
You can use your sanctuary any time, any place. It need not be used in a "formal" session with incense, candles and closed eyes (although that's fun, too).
Going to your sanctuary can be as simple and natural as remembering the melody for the words "Oh, say can you see, by the dawn's early light..." or the color of a banana or the smell of a rose or the taste of an orange. We usually don't have to concentrate to remember the things we knowwe just know them.
So it is with the sanctuary: once we get to know it and get in the habit of using it, it always seems to be there. We can be in our sanctuary while standing in line, waiting for someone to stop talking, or reading the dull passages of a book. ("When are they going to tell me how to get more money?") In other words, when something else fascinating isn't going on (and, let's face it, that's most of the time), we can be in our sanctuary doing wealth work.
Here's where your personal creativity comes in. How can your experience of wealth (health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, riches, loving, caring, sharing, learning, knowing what you want, opportunity, enjoying and balance) be enhanced by the various tools within your sanctuary? We'll suggest a few ways here, but consider this listing as just a start. The possibilities are as infinite and varied as the experience of wealth itself.
Always pass through the white light as you enter the sanctuary (it only takes a split second), knowing that only that which is for your highest good and the highest good of all concerned is taking place.
Also, feel free to invite your Master Teacher along for any or all of these explorations.
People Mover. What person or persons can give you advice, counsel, guidance or assistance in gaining greater health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, riches, loving, caring, sharing, learning, knowledge of what you want, opportunity, enjoying and balance? This can be anyonepast present, future, even fictional. (Sometimes there's a question about wealth that only Yoda or Scrooge McDuck can answer.) As they enter and leave your sanctuary, make sure that they pass through the light for their highest good and the highest good of all concerned.
Information Retrieval System. What information would help you be more wealthy? If it's for your highest good to know it at this time, you'll find it here. Or, you may be instructed where else to look for it.
Video Screen. Sit comfortably in front of your video screen. The light around it is off. See yourself on the screen in a situation in which you are unhealthy, unhappy, not abundant, unprosperous, not rich, unloving, uncaring, not sharing, unwilling to learn, not knowing what you want, lacking opportunity, not enjoying or out of balance. Then imagine a paintbrush is in your hand, heavy with black paint. Make a large X across that unwealthy image. The screen clears. The paint fades. The white light around the screen glows. Now see yourself in the corresponding wealthy situation. If you were unhealthy, see yourself glowing with vibrant health, doing healthy things, feeling healthy. If you saw yourself as unhappy, see yourself joyously happy, surrounded by happiness. Do this for all the attributes of wealth.
Ability Suits and Ability Suit Practice Area. Go to your ability suit closet. Look at the section labeled WEALTH. There you'll find thirteen suits. Can you guess their names? Yes, there's an ability suit for health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, riches, loving, caring, sharing, learning, knowing what you want, opportunity, enjoying and balance. Put one on. Now move over to the ability suit practice area and see, feel, hear, smell and even taste yourself living that ability to the full. When finished with that suit, take it off (it hangs itself up, you'll recall) and try another.
Ability suits are also good to put on before entering a real-life situation. If you're going into a situation that might challenge your balance, for example, put on the ability suit for balance before entering the situation (or even once you're already in itit only takes a split second) and keep it on while the real-life situation continues. Feel free to wear more than one ability suit at a time. The suits for loving, caring and sharing, for example, are "color coordinated and accent each other magnificently," according to the latest Ability Suit Quarterly.
Health Center. What needs to be healed in youon any level: physical, emotional, mental or spiritualso you can experience more health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, riches, loving, caring, sharing, learning, knowing what you want, opportunity, enjoying and balance? Whatever it may be, it can be healed in your health center. If you don't know or aren't sure what needs to be healed, your health center has some of the best diagnosticians in the known Universe. (They tend to diagnose and heal in the same motion, however, so maybe you'll never knowyou'll just be healed.) Also, feel free to invite friends and loved ones into your sanctuary through the people mover and ask them if they'd like a treatment or two in your health center. The health of those we love is part of our wealth, too.
Playroom. Have fun with your health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, riches, loving, caring, sharing, learning, knowing what you want, opportunity, enjoying and balance. Play with your wealth. Enjoy yourself. Invite in people you'd enjoy playing with on the people mover.
Sacred Room. Spend time here meditating, contemplating, praying and doing spiritual exercises about life, wealth in general, or about each aspect of wealth in particular.
Master Teacher. One of the most powerful and practical tools in your sanctuary is your Master Teacher. (Do you think a Master Teacher minds being called a "tool"? Probably not. Master Teachers are used to being called a lot of things.) Sit with your Master Teacherperhaps in your sacred roomand discuss your health, happiness, abundance, prosperity, riches, loving, caring, sharing, learning, knowing what you want, opportunity, enjoying and balance with your Master Teacher. Ask questions. Listen to the answers.
In daily life, remember that your MT is always there. Listen for the Master Teacher's voice no matter where you are or what you're doing. It's a direct connection to your wealth.
Andy, you gits up at noon, then you rushes to get dressed, then you rushes to the restaurant for breakfast. After you eat, you rushes to the park to take a nap, after you take your nap then you rushes back to eat again; then you rushes home, rushes to get undressed and then you rushes to bed. I tell ya Andy, there's just so much a body can stand. KINGFISH
"AMOS 'N' ANDY"
"My boat sleeps four comfortably," William F. Buckley, Jr., explained, "but five is three too many." And so it seems with life. If we can do four things happily, joyfully and productively within an hour, when we add a fifth, it's three too many. We become hurried, harried and unhappy.
"We live in a vastly complex society which has been able to provide us with a multitude of material things, and this is good," wrote Euell Gibbons, "but people are beginning to suspect that we have paid a high spiritual price for our plenty."
That was written about twenty years ago. People no longer suspect we're paying a high spiritual price, people know it. The solution? Slow down. Relax. At least once a day, take some time for meditation, contemplation, prayer, spiritual exercises or just plain taking it easy.
Make time in the noise and the chatter of life for some silence. "A man is known by the silence he keeps," observed Oliver Herford. "Silence is wonderful to listen to," said Thomas Hardy.
Silence is so, well, golden that entire philosophies have been based upon it. In fact, some people never seem to shut up about silence. "Carlyle finally compressed his Gospel of Silence," noted John Morley, "into thirty handsome octavos."
One thing we get from silence is the value of what we might hear. "Learn to listen," advised Frank Tyger. "Opportunity could be knocking at your door very softly."
Meditation, contemplation, prayer and spiritual exercises help us answer that burning question, "Who am I?" "Prayer gives a man the opportunity of getting to know a gentleman he hardly ever meets," said William Inge. "I do not mean his maker, but himself." Tom Masson pointed out, "The best way to study human nature is when nobody else is present."
Whenever you meditate, contemplate, pray, do spiritual exercises or "just sits," it's good to ask the white light to surround, fill and protect you, knowing only that which is for your highest good and the highest good of all concerned will take place during your quiet time.
Before starting, prepare your physical environment. Arrange not to be disturbed. Unplug the phone. Put a note on the door. Wear ear plugs if noises might distract you. (We like the soft foam-rubber kind sold under such trade names as E.A.R., HUSHER and DECIDAMP.) Take care of your bodily needs. Have some water nearby if you get thirsty, and maybe some tissues, too.
O ye Gods, grant us what is good whether we pray for it or not, but keep evil from us even though we pray for it. PLATO
Contemplation is thinking about something, often something of an uplifting nature. You could contemplate any of the hundreds of quotes or ideas in this book. Often, when we hear a new and potentially useful idea, we say, "I'll have to think about that." Contemplation is a good time to "think about that," to consider the truth of it, to imagine the changes and improvements it might make in your life.
Or, you could contemplate a nonverbal object, such as a flower, or a concept, such as God. The idea of contemplation is to set aside a certain amount of quiet time to think about just that, whatever you decide "that" will be.
Meditation. There are so many techniques of meditation, taught by so many organizations, that it's hard to define the word properly.
You might want to try various meditations to see what they're like. With meditation, please keep in mind that you'll never know until you do it. We may somehow like to think we know what the effects of a given meditation will be just by reading the description, and that, in fact, is exactly what happens. We think we know; we don't really know. We suggest you try it, gain the experience, and decide from that more stable base of knowledge what is best for you at this time. And please remember to "call in the light" before beginning. We suggest you do not do these meditations while driving a car, operating dangerous machinery or where you need to be alert.
I'm going to take the moment to contemplate most of the Western religions. I'm looking for something soft on morality, generous with holidays, and with a very short initiation period. DAVID ADDISON
"MOONLIGHTING
Breathing Meditation. Sit comfortably, close your eyes, and simply be aware of your breath. Follow it in and out. Don't "try" to breathe; don't consciously alter your rhythm of breathing; just follow the breath as it naturally flows in and out. If you get lost in thoughts, return to your breath. This can be a very refreshing meditationtwenty minutes can feel like a night's sleep. It's also especially effective when you're feeling emotionally upset.
Tones. Some people like to add a word or sound to help the mind focus as the breath goes in and out. Some people use one or God or AUM (OHM) or love. Theseor any othersare fine. As you breathe in, say to yourself, mentally, "love." As you breathe out, "love." A few other tones you might want to try:
I do most of my work sitting down; that's where I shine. ROBERT BENCHLEY
I am just going to pray for you at St. Paul's, but with no very lively hope of success. SYDNEY SMITH
1771-1845
Water Meditation. Take some water in a clear glass, hold it between your hands (without your hands touching each other), and simply look down into the glass. Observe whatever you observe. You may see colors. You may see energy emanating from your hands. You may just see yourself holding a glass of water. Observe the water for five minutes, gradually working up to fifteen. Drink the water at the end of the meditation. Your energies have made it a "tonic," giving you whatever you may need at that time. As an experiment, you can take two glasses, each half-filled with tap water. Set one aside, and do the water meditation with the other. Then taste each. Don't be surprised if the one you "charged" tastes different.
E. The E sound is chanted out loud after meditation to "ground" you and bring your focus back to the physical. It's a steady "Eeeeeeeeeeeee" as though you were pronouncing the letter E. It begins at the lower register of your voice, travels to the upper range, then back down again in one breath. You begin as a bass, go through tenor, alto, onto soprano, and back to bass again. As you do this, imagine that the sound is in your feet when you're in the lower register, gradually going higher in your body as your voice goes higher, finally reaching the top of your head at the highest note of the eeee, and then back down your body as the voice lowers. If you try it, you'll see that it's far easier to do than it is to explain. Do two or three E sounds after each meditation session.
I meditated for hours on end. Chanted. I was finding God all over the place. He kept ditching me. You gotta understand, I thought I was on my way to Nirvana. All I ended up with was recurrent flashbacks of the original Mouseketeers. REVEREND JIM IGNATOWSKI "TAXI"
Some may work better for you than others; that's only natural. Use the ones that work best for you now and, every so often, return to the others to see if they will offer more.
Some people think meditation takes time away from physical accomplishment. Taken to extremes, of course, that's true. Most people, however, find that meditation creates more time than it takes.
Meditation is for rest, healing, balance and information. All these are helpful in the attainment of a goal. Here's an additional technique you might want to add to your meditation. It's designed to make both the meditation and the time outside of meditation more effective.
One of the primary complaints people have about meditating is, "My thoughts won't leave me alone." Perhaps the mind is trying to communicate something valuable. If the thought is something to do, write it down (or record it on a tape recorder). Then return to the meditation. This allows the mind to move onto something elsesuch as meditation, for example.
As the "to do" list fills, the mind empties. If the thought, "Call the bank," reappears, you need only tell the mind, "It's on the list. You can let that one go." And it will. (It is important, however, to do the things on the listor at least to consider them from a nonmeditative state. If you don't, the mind will not pay any more attention to your writing it down than you do, and it will continue to bring it up, over and over.)
When finished meditating, not only will you have had a better meditation; you will also have a "to do" list that is very useful. One insight gleaned during meditation might save hours, perhaps days of unnecessary work. That's what we mean when we sayfrom a purely practical point of viewmeditation can make more time than it takes.
I do benefits for all religions-- I'd hate to blow the hereafter on a technicality. BOB HOPE
