- Sensing as an alternative to Compulsive Thinking -Take the first step no more, no lessand the next will be revealed.

For things are not what they seem. In the worlds broad field ofbattle, in the bivouac of Life, be not like dumb, driven cattle! Bea hero in the strife! Trust no future, howeer pleasant, let thedead past bury its dead! Act, act in the living present. Heartwithin, and God oer head.

Oh, young fella, I was just thinking I just rememberedsomethin old Mr. Watt said to me that day out in Emmasfront yard. He told me to never believe that somethincouldnt be done. Dont believe it if somebody else tellsyou that, and dont believe it even if your own mind tellsyou that, he said. I had an inklin that he had told mesomethin very importantespecially to a youngun. Iremembered that for a long time. And you know, it got methrough some tough times. Helped save this paper onerough spell we went through here."

Never rush anything, young man. You remember that.Everythingeverythinghas its own time, its own pace,its own rhythm, and only a fool tries to rush that. Sorrything is, the world is full of fools.

There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so

When you watch your thoughts, Victor, instead ofbeing taken over by them, you have an open mind, whichis the way it should be. Thenand only thencan youreceive the answers you desire. Another of Clementsfavorite truisms came from the Bible, I believe: Nothing issecret, that shall not be made manifest. Even down tocigars.

Not that whichgoeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that whichcometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.

"The more you remember to watch your thoughts, the clearer you willsee the truth in this, Victor. While the world wastes its lifeon curing bad habits, you work at watching yourthoughts. As you do that, all else will take care of itself.

He tried to convey to people that there is a higher level tolife, and that it is completely possible to live it right hereand now.

For the few who seek, for those fortunate few of uswho have that tiny spark in us and desire a better life thatwe sense is possible. Clement was a living example thatsuch a life is possibleand completely practical. He usedto read Shakespeare, Walden, Thoreau, Balzac, Longfellowhe was very fond of Longfellowand other classicliterature and say, If people only knew the lessons thesewriters teach! The baker, the clerk, the minister, theschoolboy, the banker, and the school marm could all behappy and prosperous.

Suppose you were coming out of a junglethat you had tried for years to get through. After so mucheffort, you discovered that taking the treacherous junglepath not only led nowhere, but was unnecessary as well.Im going to tell you something of what Clement Wattknew. This isnt to say that youll now know it simplybecause I speak it to you. This is just the first step thatplaces you closer to the edge of the jungle.You can then begin to see your way clear of the jungle, oryou can run right back in itas dangerous and painful as itisas most people do, preferring the known over the

for whoever has, more shall be given and heshall have an abundance; but whoever does not have,even what he has shall be taken away from him.Do you mean the rich get richer and the poor get poorer?The wise are rich, and more just naturally comes, includingmoney, if thats their desire. The foolish are poor, andblessingsincluding moneynaturally elude them. Dontpursue money* Victor. Seek understanding first, then allthings just naturally follow. Do you see why the world isfoolish?

Do you sincerely wish to knowThe Secret?Yes, Minnie, please tell me.The Secret is this: There issomething enormously wrong with how we think; howyou think, how I think, how everyone thinks. I cant explainit, and I dont understand it to any great degree. But I cantell you what to do about it. This is what Clement Wattslifes work was all about. Its what all of the wise men whoever walked this earth tried to teach others.Victor, look at all those trees. She made a sweepingmotion with her thin, wrinkled arm and hand. Do theyfight amongst themselves, resent each other, and say tothemselves, I should be a pine tree instead of a magnolia?Victor smiled and moved his head back and forth slightly, looking.Do they fret about the heat today, or worry aboutwhat tomorrow will bring, or moan about what happenedto them yesterday? No. Well, then, why arent you and I ashappy, carefree, and successful as these trees? Becauseour brains are more sophisticated than the tiny brainsthese trees have.Victor Truman, Im about to divulge to yousomething that very, very few people ever learn. Andthats the operative word: Learn. You must now seek tolearn and understand what Im about to tell you. There isnothing in this life more important to seek than theunderstanding of this. Nothing. Seek ye first the kingdomof Heaven and all things shall be added unto you is howits been so eloquently put.Those thoughts that rush through your mind, mymind, Clements mind, Platos mind, everyones mind, arenot ours. We do not create them; they come fromsomewhere outside us. Not knowing - or even suspecting -this, we take them to be our own individual, self-madethoughts. We believe we are these thoughts.Whats wrong with believing that we create them isthat we carry these horrendous thoughtsthis beastaround at all times believing that we are it!Now look, Victor, she continued in a softer, calmervoice. There is only one thing on this earth to understand,and it is what I just told you. Seeking, not even resolving,but simply seeking to understand this fact that we are notour thoughts will answer any and every question you willever pose. This is not philosophy, Victor; it is rock-solid,practical living.You dont know what to do with your life? This is what todo with it. Study this, and youll always get your rightanswer.you must begin to think differently than you do now. How? Its the most simple, yet most profound, idea you have everheard: You must begin to watch your thoughts.But I know what I'm thinking, Victor responded, withdoubt.Victor, do you know that you have the most worried lookon your face now, that its wrinkled like a prune? And doyou know that your right leg is beating faster than ahummingbirds wings?Victor froze, his eyes fixed for a moment. He looked downand caught his right leg bouncing madly against the seat.He stopped his leg, closed his eyes, relaxed his face, andlooked sheepishly at Minnie. Then they both smiled at oneanother.That is what Clement used to call being lost in thought.And that type of hypnosis is how most people live theirentire lives. That hypnosis, and abiding by what the beastin our head constantly tells us, is how this poor worldoperates. Wars, fights, lawsuits, neighbor-against neighbor,crime, fear, and anxiety are a result of listeningto those beastly thoughts and believing we are them.Shakespeare said Sleep no more! This is what he meantby that. This hypnosis that were under keeps us foreverrunning in circles, like the donkey chasing a carrot.We dont see the obvious, he said, is the lesson inthat story. Our thoughts are as close as our own breath,but we never take a close look at them! I imagine I hadlikely asked him the same question you just asked of me.We dont see the obvious, Victor repeated, half tohimself.

Minnie, he said softly and calmly, now what told you toget so upset and flustered like this?Just a thought in my head, I replied, hanging my head,knowing I had forgotten again. Minnie took a deep breathand exhaled. Oh, that dear, kind man was so patient with me.And what did that thought tell you exactly? he continued.It told me that I was uglyuglier than all the other girlsand that I didnt deserve to have an important friend likeyou, and that I wanted them to like me.Victor had a sad look on his face, listening to Minnie recallthis memory.Victor, wake up! she snapped, clapping her hands. Victorwas startled. Dont you go getting lost in thought overthis. Stay awake now! Know that youre sitting here withme on this porch. Sense where your feet are. Know if yourhands are tight or relaxed. If you dont know these things,youre hypnotized, asleep, and those thoughts took youover again. With a smile barely breaking past her lips,Minnie barked these orders in the sternest manner shecould muster. Victor pictured her as a military drillinstructor and smiled. Come on, come awake, shemotioned with her hand to do what she had said.Separating himself mentally, as if thinking outside of himself,he saw that his face was tight and wrinkled around hiseyes. Then he sensed his rigid jaw and relaxed it. Hishands were clenched, and he opened them. His toes weretightly curled; he let them loose. Then he noticed hisshoulders were bunched up, and he let them relax. Thenhe looked at Minnie.Thata boy, she smiled, reassuringly. If you dont knowwhere you are, youre lost in thought. And if youre asleeplike that, those thoughts have a fine ole time running youragged. She lifted her chin and gave one nod of her head

Minnie, what if all these other rosebushessuddenly didnt like this one rosebush here? Would thatmake any difference at all to this rosebush?No, I answered.And would this one rosebush be any less spectacularthan it is now?No, I said again.Then what is the only thing that could make this littlerosebush here feel sad and hurt? he asked me.Only if the little rosebush had thoughts about theother rosebushes.Thats absolutely right. And what if this littlerosebush even did have those hurtful thoughts, what couldit do?It could know that they were there, but it wouldnthave to listen to them! Clement smiled and gave myshoulders a little squeeze with both hands.Thats right, Minnie! he said.

You always remember this, what youve learned here today:Theres nothing to do, theres only something to see. Just be the unbiased observer in your life, and everything youllever need to know will be revealed and given to you.Clement used to say this to me when Id fire off a barrage of questions,Well, what about this and what about that... she tappedher fingers and thumb together rapidly, imitating a birdsbeak. Then she chuckled. I must have sounded like thatold blue jay. Come to think on it, thats what my mindsounds like!Victor nodded, realizing how insightful her little joke was.But the important thing is to know that our minds aredoing this, Victor. Not that youre to fight those thoughts,or try to suppress them, or even try to drown them outwe cant anyway. You just remember to watch them.Watch and watch and watch. And then, watch whathappens!

Minnie, how will I ever thank you?By stayin awake and makin the best use of your life!she said with forced sternness. Clement used to tell meLife isnt a foot race, Minnie, its just a great big classroomto learn in.

Things are not what they seem.Always seek The Impossible, which is never more than a step away.Nothing is impossible, my dear Victor, as long as youremember to leave those thoughts and just watch them goby. Never flinch, just watch.

'Now is how, Minnie. Always, remember nowand the how comes of its own, almost magically.'

Minnie, dont think, realize. I asked whathe meant, and this is what he said: If you misspell a wordover and over, you look at it, you wonder if you got it rightthis time, it bothers you. But then you go to the dictionary,look at it, know that its spelled right, and from then onwhenever you write that word, you dont have to thinkabout it, you just realize it.

Clement was a truly rare and remarkable man, Victor,and he gave his whole life to let others know they can bethe same.

His mind raced, and he caught it racing. It toldhim to hurry up. But why? He deliberately slowed his paceand felt each step he made. Now the thoughts reallyraced. He laughed out loud. How different this was.

Never flinch, he considered, just watch. Be an unbiased observer.Dont flinch, just watch

All that he learned this morning withMinnie was making more and more sense. These thoughts are not in my best interestobviously not! Why didn't I ever see that before It all seems so obvious, but soesoteric as well. The thoughts parading through my mindright now are not for methey are against me! All right, that's the first step. And when I see that, the next step is immediately apparent: Don't go along with those thoughts. Don't do what they say!

Take the first stepnomore, no lessand the next will be revealed.He was at that uncomfortable, but always rewarding,place again: the end of his thoughts, with no apparentnext step in sight. And as he was learning, thats the rightplace to be, for the next step is always grander thananything his own mind can dream up. The secret is tosimply remember this.

If I dont know why Im acting the way I am at any givenmoment, then Im just a machine, and machines have nochoices. What happens to them is just accidental. I noticedthat I was rushing through dinner, a million miles away inthought, so I slowed down to see what it was my thoughtswere saying that made me rush along.If I dont know that Im sitting here in this room havingdinneras no one here doesthen Im lost in thought.If Im lost in thought, then Im either mulling oversomething from the past, which is usually somethingpainful, or Im projecting something out into the future,which also is usually painful. So Im usually living in amade-up dream and actually hurting myself. The only wayto really live is to be right herein the here and nowknowing whats really going on.You mean like driving a car for miles and miles and not remembering anythingabout it?Yes, I think so. The instinctual part of the brain obviouslykept the car on the road and out of the lane of oncomingcars. But youthe driverwere lost in thought,somewhere in the past or future. And that cant be living,because the past and future dont even existtheyre justbased on stored memories and projected fantasies.

But the programmer understands the computer and triesto convince the general that what he sees on the screensbefore him is just a machines hallucination. Its a bluff.Dont respond like a machine, the programmer tells him.As the general fights his impulse and training to react andrespond, the computer begins playing game after game ofTic- Tac-Toe, until its racing through every possiblecombination of moves at lightning speedThe tension builds as Russias missiles are just secondsaway from striking their targets, when the Tic-Tac-Toegames cease and another series of calculations fills theprimary screen: The computer is applying what it justlearned from playingand finally understandingTic-Tac-Toe to every possible combination of nuclearconfrontations.When the computer concludes that neither side would winin scenario after scenario streaming by at nearly the speedof light, the big screen suddenly goes blank. The room issilent, the screens are dark, the computer is thinking.The big screen twinkles as the computer announces itsconclusion:A strange game. The only winning move is notto play.

He had trouble falling asleep, reflecting on thisimportant days coincidental events. He anticipatedwhat might lay in store for him tomorrow.Thats when he remembered to watch, instead of be, his thoughts.Hisforehead was furrowed, his hands were clenched, his legswere twisted under the covers in the strangest fashion.Victor repositioned himself in a natural, comfortable position,and kept watching. Then he noticed how rapid andshallow his breathing was; he consciously slowed anddeepened it.It occurred to him that his mind wanted to project howtomorrow was going to unfold. He noticed how it just racedalong, thousands of thoughts speeding by, that very fewcould even be singled out and examined. His mind, hesaw, was relentless. No wonder Minnie called it a beast.As he caught his thoughts again projecting tomorrowsevents, he thought of the movie they had just seen. Itdawned on him that his mind could not possibly know, orproject, what would happen tomorrowhow could it? Butthen, isnt this what worry and anxiety are all about1Arent worry and anxiety simply ignorant projections thatcant possibly be based in reality1 Minnies words came to him: There is something enormously wrong with how we think".Can this really be true1 Could this whole world besuffering the consequences of one grand delusion1 What aprospect.Lying still, aware of his breathing and moving chest, henoticed his eyes darting about the room, unwilling to settleon one object. What told them to be so restless? Somethought must be giving them orders, but I can't see it orsense it. And something doesn't want me to lie here in bedlike this. But what is it?After several minutes of this, he noticed his face andforehead tighten with an expression of frustration. Hecouldnt catch a thought, but then realized one just toldhim he failed miserably at this thought-watching business.Thats when he caught the tightness in his face andforehead. He remembered Minnies instructions to notreact, just watch. He relaxed and began again.-No wonder nothing new enters my mind, Victorconsidered. I'm so busy at the beck and call of thesethoughts that I don't even see, there's no room foranything new; I'm never present enough to see it anyway!He knew he had just received a valuable clue to theimportance of staying present, and the value of separatinghimself from these invisible, never-ending task masters.Victor realized he was lost in thought again when Christinehad awakened and actually gotten out of bed before heknew it. Another shock and pang of disgust shot throughhis mind. Just watch, don't react. But what a waste oftime, a thought told him. Maybe, he considered,but if I don't attempt to stay present and out of this rush ofnegative, destructive thoughts, I'll just be lost in it. If Idon't try, then I'm already defeated.He noticed hisbreathing again, something he hadnt done since twentyminutes ago when he began this exercise.

Have you noticed how little you know where you are andthat youre even breathing? Isnt it shocking to realize howdeeply asleep we are?Yes, Ive begun to notice that.Everyone else in this roomin the whole world! thinkstheyre alive and well, but all you have to do is just look atthemat usto see how deeply asleep and frightenedthey are.I was thinking about being on the tennis court yesterdayand how poisonous my thoughts are. They were telling methat I looked fat and ugly out there running around, thatpeople were laughing at me, that Id never be good attennis, that I wasnt a good mother and wife, and on andon; it was relentless. Its a wonder we make it through lifeas well as we do, carrying this tremendous burden.Then I thought how impressionable small children,especially, are, and how they can be severely damagedbecause a cruel parent will tell them over and over thattheyre no good, that they are bad, that theyll neveramount to anything. Well, the child usually believes allthese lies because they come from a source the childbelieves without questionits parent or elder. And then itoccurred to me just last night that weadultslisten toand believe these thoughts in our head without question.But if well just stop a moment and take a look at themhow horrendous!

So I think the point is, like Minnie taught me, just to seeit. Obviously, I cant change it; all I can do is just see it.Seeing how lost I am is certainly better than being lost andnot knowing it.

Dont react, just observe. Be an impartial observer.Faster than he couldsee, his mind drew conclusions, changed thoseconclusions, and made assumptions. In those few briefmoments, those thoughts took Victor through a whirlwindof emotionsfrom elated to depressed, from hopeful toforlorn. All this turmoil because the Coincidental wasntthere. And all this based on no evidence at all. His mindhad no knowledge whatsoever, except that theCoincidental wasnt docked where it was two days ago, yetit reeled off a multitude of imaginings that sent hisemotional system gyrating.Victor considered how much energy he must haveexpended in just the past few secondsnot even oneminute!and how it would have served him much moreprofitably to have remained in the present.

Always seek the impossible." Its solutionlies just beyond your mind.

Now when I've seen how my mind is filled with nothing but chaos andconflict, how can I trust it? So how can I mentally standaside and watch this all taking place? Thats the greatlesson Minnie taught me, or I might never have knownthere was a life outside all this turmoil. And this is whatClement was trying to teach Minnie.Come to think of it, this is also what he meant in hisspeech: For things are not what they seem. In the world'sbroad field of battle, in the bivouac of Life, be not likedumb, driven cattle! Be a hero in the strife! Trust nofuture, howe'er pleasant, let the dead past bury its dead.Act, act in the living present. Heart within, and Godoverhead.Just beyond your mind" means no future" and the deadpast." Stopping and taking a good look at what's going onin my mind is just beyond" it. So this is where my Heartis, with God overhead."

Street, deliberately walking more slowly than thosethoughts told him to. It occurred to him that the way itmostly was now, he was a slave to the thoughts in hismind, and that his task was to reverse this: His job was toactually change the way his mind now operated so thatthese thoughts became the slave and not the master. Healso considered that, based uponwhat he learned from Minnie, this transformation could notbe brought about by force or will, but just the observationof the entire process would bring about the change.~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~For things are not what they seem.In the worlds broad field of battle,In the bivouac of Life,Be not like dumb, driven cattle!Be a hero in the strife!Trust no Future, however pleasant!Let the dead Past bury its dead!Act, act in the living Present!Heart within, and God oerhead!A Psalm of Life by Henry Wadsworth LongfellowNow is how, dont live in thought.Take the first stepno more, no lessand the next will be revealed.Watch, watch, watch. Dont react, just watchSamoposmatranje u Sada. Svesno disanje.Pronadjes put van dzungle. Izvan dzungle posmatram dzunglu.What else could this mean but to separate myself fromthis turmoil of thoughts and act in the living Present?Only By Staying Here Can You Ever Change. When you askHow? realize that Now is always the answer to how.To enter the Door, you must lose yourself.On the other side, you will live from a newperspective, a higher vantage point. From that invisible plateau you will receive perfect instruction by which you will conduct all your affairs.Your mind is not the friend you now believe it to be.It is a mere machine that tosses out thoughts incessantly, mechanically.But you are neither your mind nor its myriadof thoughts and emotions. They cannot open the Door. Ifthey could, they would have done so. To cross thethreshold to a new life, you must remove yourself fromyour own thoughts. This can be done. Permit me to explainwhat only seems unexplainable.At any moment, you can be in only one of two placesmentally: You either are immersed in your thoughts, oryou are separate from them. Incredible an instrument asyour mind is, it cannot lift you above what it knows. Andyou have a Divine Instruction within you to transcend whatyou know, but the mind simply cannot perform thismiracle. You must take the step of faith: Leave your thoughts behind.You, as most do, live from your mindfrom thoughtsand emotions. This is living on the billiard table or in therushing river. As active and violent as these places are,they are mesmerizing and hypnotic. Living from thoughtsas most do is a form of sleep. To remove yourself from thisslumber, simply awaken.Where are your hands now? Are they relaxed or tense? Doyou know the expression on your face? Is your browfurrowed and tight? What is the temperature of the airsurrounding you? What is the position of your feet? Whatsupports your body this moment, and how is your weightdistributed? This awareness of yourself amid your surroundings is Now. In this attentive state you are separate,watching yourself read the words on this paper, witnessingthe thoughts and sensations coursing through you.Becoming awake lifts you out of the tumultuous watersof doubt, anxiety, worry, fear and anger. Your Attentionplaces you on a bridge over the tumbling river. You stillsee the chaos below, but now you are not part of it. Youare transformed into an impartial observer. It is in thisattentive state that something higher can communicatewith you.It is impossible to sense Its directions while in the cascading waters. Although It is always present, alwaysreaching out to you, your work is to clear a path to receiveIts direction. Do this by becoming awake and attentive.Return to Now.Rarely will you meet a person who is in the Now state.Most are forever lost in thought. The secret of Now placesyou at the Door. It is from the Now state that perfectdirection can reach you. You cannot hear the Voicesdirection while asleep, just as you cannot touch a beam oflight; they are of two distinct and different natures. Yourinner ears can hear only when you are standing uponthe doorstep of Now.My purpose is not to elaborate, but only to reveal thisSecret of taking this first stepleaving thought andreturning to Now.Can you do itcan you actually take this step of faith?Your mind is producing doubtful thoughts now, but yes,you can. Think back on your search for this letter: You hadto take a step of faith to locate it. This I intended for thevery purpose of proving to you the existence of the Door.It also vividly demonstrates how you cannotmust nottrust or believe what your mind advises. It did not knowthe location of this letter. Indeed, thoughts shouted at youto give up the search. To locate this hidden letter, you hadto leave the certainty of your mind and its thoughts. Nowyou will work at doing so in greater and greater measureconsciously, from the attentive, awakened state. You willwork from Now.Be as vigilant as you are able; observe yourself as often asyou can remember. Observe the numerous states youenter and exit from each day. Inquire of yourself, Who isthis that is angry? doubtful? fearful? excited? depressed?It is not you; it is only thoughts in your mind using you!When you do this long enough, an entirely newunderstanding will emerge and you will begin to think in amanner differently than you do presently.What will happen? You will become a new person! Youwill see, hear, and sense as never before. The demon fearwill retreat and fall away more and more. You will receivedirections to proceed that seem impossible. Take that firststepno more, no lessand the next will be revealed. Inthis way, you will pass through what formerly appeared tobe solid brick walls that you avoided. Your way out isthrough the illusory brick walls! Now you will seek theimpossible, knowing it is the very doorway out!Always remember that whatever appears as a solid wall isa mere illusion created by the rushing river of thought. It isno more significant than an antdisguised as a brick wall!The only way to banish this illusion is to proceed throughit, watching your fear and trepidation all the while. In thisone way, you will know from yourself that it is all anillusion.While you are conducting business, seated at the diningtable, enjoying a walk, conversing with another...evenas you doze at night, come back to Now. (Where are youthis moment?) Come back to yourself. Come back toyourself. A thousand times a day. Work at this. Keepcoming back to yourself, to Now.As thoughts and feelings attempt to confuse and frustrateyou, awaken. Watch these demons, and they will pass. Youare viewing from a higher place. Do not jump back into theriver, simply observe from above.Notice others from your watchful state. They liveimmersed in thought, just as you have done to this point inyour life. They are tugged and tousledat one momentelated, then sullen, teary, depressed, frightened, andangry the next. As you begin to observe all these statesyour mind pulls you through, you will be amazed. Returnfrom these thoughts to Now; Now cannot be bandiedabout. Your attentive state is solid ground; it is of a leveloverlooking the billiard table and rushing river.Do not struggle to understand the thoughts you observe;be only watchful of them. Treat them as the outsiders andintruders they are. Say to yourself, Oh, look at that angrythought, etc. Become the uninvolved bystander. Anindescribable new life awaits you as you do this.You are not on as high a level in your employment orbusiness as you secretly know you are capable. Until now,if you desired to rise from this level, you knew only todelve into your thoughts, to refer to your cerebral libraryfor answers. But your library is of the same level as thequestion you pose. Seeking the higher, you must leave thelevel you presently occupy. To do so, return to Now. In thepast, you knew only to delve into your thoughts for theanswers you seek. This process uprooted stored informationthat is lifeless. You found no answer there and yourmind then conjured up projections based on these pastdead thoughts. This created fantasies and dreams thatonly perplexed and agitated you morea vicious, deceitfulcycle. This is all your own mind can provide, however. Itdoes not know the answer you require. Now knows. FromNow comes the Intelligence that knows you and your everyneed.When you know not what to do, return to Now. Nowknows. Wait there, and what you need will come to you.What you need is not self-produced.Of course, there are those who gain the worlds esteemand manage to gather its riches, but you will find that itsooner or later destroys them. They gained it out of persistenceand the Law of Accident. Most everyone whopersists does acquire, but of what value is it if it destroys?There is nothing wrong in gaining worldly treasures if youhave first the higher wisdom. See for yourself; observe theworlds business and political leaders. They are like aninfant happening upon a shimmering object; the glow andglisten entices the child to handle it, to play with it. Littledoes the infant know the bright shining plaything is afinely polished knife. But with understanding, the knife is akeen tool, very practical and productive in wise, skilledhands.Turn instead to your only true friendNow. As a childturns to a parent, simply ask for direction. Have no ideas,schemes, or plans. Simply askknowing that you do notknowand then await the Answer.Have no preconceived notions; do not attempt toidentify or describe any outcome. What a relief it is toknow that you are not responsible for (nor capable of)generating right answers! That is the same as attemptingto instruct a tree how to form and develop. The seed doesnot require directions from you; it already contains aDivine Instructionjust as do you. You do not know theoutcome, you do not know how. But Now knows; Now ishow.Intelligence knows you completely; It is your one truefriend. It knows what is highest and best for you. Yourmindintellectdoes not know. So cease your continualturning to your thoughts for answers; they have noneabove the level you are on. If they did, would you still beon your search? If thought held the answers you require,you would not be questioning.I can relate countless stories of true revelations andmiracles that came to me through the Door. They weregrander than I could have imagined or dared to request!Merely take the first stephonestly and innocently ask.Then confidently await the Right Answer that has beenattempting to contact you all along!Noticeright nowhow your mind is clamoring. It istelling you, This is wrong, How could this be so?,What nonsense! Your mind does not favor being the target of this bright light you are shining upon it. If youbelieve what your mind shouts, you will continue on as youhave; you will be just one more of the mass of lemmingsrunning blindly; asleepto their impending doom.But you are different; you sense that the still, small Voiceattempts to lead you to something greater than yourself,and thus the solution to every problem and limitation. GiveNow this chance and see for yourself. Whatever questionyou have, put it to Now. Now is the way.My essential directions contained in this letter place you atthe gateway to your own revelations; however, you mustexperience It for yourself. Every question you have, orever will have, is answered by Now. I shall prepare youand reveal some experiences you are about to undergo asyou begin this, the one true journey:You will find yourself speaking less as you begin observingmore and more. Most believe that activity evidencesproductivity, yet you will begin to see through this fallacy.When idle, your thoughts will protest: You are wastingtime!, Get to work!, Idleness means missedopportunities!, Activity is productivity!, and so on andso on. These are mere tricks of your mind. Watch them asyou wait for true Answers to come through the Door.You cannot hear them amid chaos and confusionthe "normal state of the mind.I smile in anticipation of your revelations, of yourcoming awake, truly alive. Revelations await you. Somewill unnerve you, others will stupefy your senses. Thesemiraculous events will be evidence that you are transcendingthis notional world and living from the Higher.Take the first step: Come back to Now. The next step willbe revealed. All that you need to knowand preciselywhenis in Now. Nothing is coincidental from Now wherechance does not exist. What sleeping people callcoincidences and miracles are understoodand commonplace!from N o w.

Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you.

Trust no future, howeer pleasant!Constant vigilance, that's the secret. The mind willtake anythingpast or futureand dwell upon it, projectfrom it, and create emotionsgood and badaround it. Itwill do anything to avoid the present, the Now.People live their lives within these past and futurethoughts, completely missing Now! That's why C. W. saidNow is how.

each one examine his thoughts, and he will findthem all occupied with the past and the future. Wescarcely ever think of the present, and if we think of it, itis only to take light from it to arrange the future.... Sowe never live, but we hope to live; and, as we arealways preparing to be happy, it is inevitable we shouldnever be so.Infinite yourself to the present.