Q: Life not being a struggle isn't an easy concept to imagine. Do you have ways to overcome struggles? (HT)
A: I probably alternate between three different approaches in dealing with struggles. I won't elaborate on the theory, or I'd end up reproducing the book, but I try at what the book calls conception, elimination, and wholeness. Sometimes problems are just a need for more spiritual expression. Do I need to be more loving? Do I need to unlimit my thinking about something? Am I claiming that happiness and fulfillment are mine and everyones? Am I identifying myself correctly, thinking, believing, acting consistently with my highest sense of good. That sort of thing. That is the positive approach.
Next I may need to deal with negatives. I might see if I was doing anything to add to the problem, and use the Bible verse to pray, cleanse thou me from secret faults. There are approaches for handling the negative at each level of belief, such as overcoming fear and doubt, overcoming false beliefs, or overcoming problems seen as empty space needing to be filled by good. What is the opposite of the problem? Should I be taking a greater stand for peace or tranquility or poise in my life? If I just can't seem to stop struggling, the solution is to let all my struggles be infinite. If I let my problems be infinite, they become sweet nothings to me, pure spiritual opportunities. This can seem abstract and even absurd sometimes, but it works when everything else has failed.
We have looked at getting more of good and less of evil. The third way is to go back to the beginning and see the wholeness of our source and identity. Maybe that should have been the first step, huh? That means that basic to your identity is the infinity of goodness that is yours, dwelling in the perfect place and time where nothing else is. I imagine how this infinite wholeness would speak to me and simply say: I. If I get a wisp of that, I'm done. Then I just work it out, and don't worry about the details. I hope that is a helpful explanation.
(4/96) (Rev 1 - 5/5/96)