School Talk 45 - Question and Answer 1

(Audience participation in parenthesis)
Talk covers:
Reporting
Motive behind action
Pleasant mood

All right, today we're going to take questions and answers. Now we've been letting questions that people write in accumulate. So today we're going to try to take, at least, some of those questions; and see if we can answer them where they will be adequate.

The first one is:
(When we're asked to report that someone get well, isn't that interfering with the normal adaptation from a stressful situation and misconception on the part of the adaptee. I've seen people feel better after reporting; and, also, get better. What's going on in these situations?)

Well, several different things could be going on in a situation. Number one the fact of reporting-IF I REPORT CORRECTLY, I DON'T SAY THAT THE PERSON WILL BE BETTER. I SAY THEY WILL SEE MORE CLEARLY WHAT THEY'RE DOING. That's what I report; and of course, I attempt to work with the person at a distance to see that they do begin to see. Now it is possible that everything we work on, when we're in a certain state of being, works through other people. Now we'll also know that in some cases that there could only be, possibly, that we are doing "suggestive therapeutic" and the person knows about it.

Sometimes they don't even know about it; and I'm not interested in "suggestive therapeutics" which, to me, is interfering with the normal adaptation because we're suggesting to the person they feel good; and the adaptation will have to take another route.

But if we're reporting that the person will see more accurately what's going on in their lifestyle, and the way they're behaving, and the way they're thinking and feeling that they will change that lifestyle which doesn't then require another adaptation to take place.

So I think that we could look at it as to how we report. Now certainly if we report accurately, the person will get better--possibly totally all right, but it will take a few days. We have also worked with some people who are so intent upon having everything understood clearly and demanding that what we report will work out immediately. In other words they are totally concerned with having the four dual basic urges; and in those cases, our reporting usually goes out the window. So we might as well have been smoking a cigarette or having a cup of coffee or reading the funny papers. It wouldn't do any good, but I think that definitely we can report. I feel that reporting accurately is saying that the person will see more clearly. Now we will go to another question.

(I was asked to report for a late menstrual period, obviously wanting to escape an unwanted pregnancy. Is this inaccurate reporting?)

Again, I would only report that the person's health would be well. I would not report they're going to have an abortion. I'm not into the "disposing of people" business. I'm in the business of working with people that they will feel well. So she asked if this is inaccurate reporting. I would say if they're going to have their period; fine, that might be accurate--I don't know. So we're not reporting for a person to be any way EXCEPT THAT THE BODY FUNCTION WELL. Now if the person has a spontaneous abortion, that's fine. I don't know about that. I'm not working for them to have that.

(If she was, could this result in some unpleasant consequences?)

It possibly could, I don't know.

(Is this reportable, or does it need to be understood more.)

It's like everything else, it needs to be understood more. I WOULD ONLY REPORT THAT THE LADY IN QUESTION WOULD HAVE MORE UNDERSTANDING; AND THAT IF SHE WAS IN A STRESSFUL STATE, THAT THE STRESSFUL STATE COULD BE REDUCED. There is no use trying to get rid of a symptom and leave the stress there because it will only break out in some other place.

(I am aware that I want to have a new purpose. Knowing it and doing it are two different things.)

How true.

(I am constantly reminded I live by the old purpose-no matter what my intentions are. How does one act on a new purpose when it seems too impossible.)?

I suppose we could take a lesson from the Marine's little slogan is "the difficult we do once; the impossible takes a little time". So I think that possibly when we set up a new purpose--that in many cases it is merely words. You haven't seen the necessity of it. You may have seen the desirability of something, but not the necessity. If you've truly seen the necessity of something, you have very little difficulty in recalling it. If you've only seen the desirability of it, it doesn't seem to have very much affect; and I think that the question here is that YOU'VE SEEN THE DESIRABILITY OF HAVING A NEW PURPOSE, BUT YOU HAVE NOT SEEN THE NECESSITY OF IT.

So how can you get to the point of seeing the necessity of it? More than likely we have to have some experiences that let's us recognize that really living by the four dual basic urges is an utter chaotic situation. Now sometimes our affairs in life are going along so nice; and we have about 90% of the four dual basic urges; and so we may see the desirability of having a new purpose, but we have not seen the necessity of it.

So, frequently, one has to wait until some situation "arises in one's way", or maybe we can have somebody to "understand the situation" to develop us one where we would be so involved that we would see the absolute necessity of having a new purpose. Now I know that that covers a lot of different spaces; and most of us wanting to be non-disturbed are quite happy when things are going along real well. In fact, I find that certain people tell me that they know they are getting along with higher states of consciousness because all their affairs are going so well-they are having most of the four dual basic urges. I usually (only) think-"Well, let's wait a while," and having waited a while over a number of times, over the past more years than I care to talk about, I've found that sooner or later that person comes up with some situation in their everyday experiencing that they can really see the necessity of having a new purpose.

Now in the old purpose of being non-disturbed, every now and then most of the things are working along with it pretty well-every now and then goes along pretty good. We think, boy oh boy, I got it made. Just wait, it will come along very shortly that everything falls apart and goes undone; and I've seen cycles where the person may go on seven years that no matter what they touched it turned to pure gold, so to speak-everything just worked out beautifully. I've seen the person then have six, seven years going along where absolutely nothing would work like they set out for it to do; and they cried, "what have I done wrong"-"what in the world has happened here". All it is is that this is a bunch of sequences that are going on in the world, and it doesn't make any difference what you do or don't do, these situations will probably be there.

So we maintain that sometimes it is not as easy to make a new purpose. We don't want to say we've made a new purpose until we really have seen the absolute necessity of it. Before then we've only seen the desirability of something.

Now people don't do much activity on seeing the desirability of something. A person may see the desirability of not drinking as much alcohol, but they haven't come to any necessity to quit it, it has to get in to they're messing up their everyday affairs--their work and their family life and their associates and everything else-finally sometimes they can see the necessity of it.

In alcoholics anonymous, they have a statement that so and so doesn't want to quit drinking yet-they just want to want. So I think that every now and then we haven't seen the necessity of making a new purpose. We only want to "want to make a new purpose"; and we haven't made it-we've only conceived of it. In a case like that, I think it is just as well not to be bothered with it. So, we'll consider that that question is fairly well covered.

We haven't usually made a new purpose if we're finding a great difficulty in carrying it out. Nobody seems to have any difficulty at working at the old purpose to be non-disturbed. We have also observed over the years that if a person makes a new purpose, they have really seen the necessity of it and truly made a new purpose. They have no more difficulty carrying out the new purpose than they did the old one.

Ok, then the next question comes up.

(I ask Life for a lot of things: for instance to increase my business, help my friends get jobs, get me more and better and different food, clothing, shelter. I feel I'm just telling life the how, and it does the what-except that I'm wondering if this isn't greedy in some way?)

Probably so, because most of these things that are mentioned here, if I may be so bold as to remind, are asking for ways to gratify the four dual basic urges. "I ask Life for a lot of things: to increase my business," so obviously, I will have more money so I can buy more things for the four dual basic urges. "Help my friends get jobs, get me more and better and different food, shelter, and clothing", so I can do all the four dual basic urges. "I feel that I'm just telling Life the how, and it does the what." "No doubt it does to a great degree proceed to do that except that I have been wondering if this isn't greedy in some way."

Certainly it is, because it's telling X the "what" one wants to have for the four dual basic urges be more gratified. Now let's say that I was asking for wisdom and understanding instead of all these things.

Somewhere I've read that if you had wisdom and understanding (which sometimes is called the kingdom of heaven), that one would have all these other things added unto them. So it is a matter of what we put the first value on. So let's see that if we could be concerned with getting the most value on what it is that we really require in this world-and that is wisdom and understanding.

Now if I reported for my friends to have wisdom and understanding; they, no doubt, could have a job or start their own business; so that then they would probably get along a lot better--if I could be of assistance to them in that way.

We ask them to see more clearly if at all possible. So we think that that would be very worthwhile--that maybe the person could see what they already have and be in a state of gratitude-an inner feeling of gratitude rather than in a state of feeling a lack of things; and no doubt, if we begin to have a feeling of gratitude, that we could see many, many ways that we could be more of service than the ones we do now; and if we are more of service, no doubt, that would take care of all those spare wants-but as a by-product, not as the thing to struggle for.

(I notice that while thinking, whether being creative or doing something routine, that I have become very open to all kinds of thoughts and realize hours later that I've been asleep. What does one do to keep from falling asleep while busy thinking and doing things.)

Well, if one is busy being about their purpose, they don't fall asleep. If one gets being busy about fulfilling the four dual basic urges or "attempting to", one never gets it done. One is asleep as soon as one starts. So more than likely that when the person is doing the thinking, whether it is creative or routine, there are all kinds of unconscious thoughts that come up in the mind. They realize hours later that they've been asleep because of those extra thoughts out there, no doubt, got back into supplying the four dual basic urges either by thinking of doing something or wishing for them, or maybe even fantasizing that we have them at the moment. So I think we always are asleep as long as we're working at the four dual basic urges-the basic decisions; and we're always awake when we're busy about the purpose that we have come upon and self-chosen and made of first value. When we're doing that, we're always awake. So I would say that the only way to be sure that one stays awake is to be sure that one truly has a new purpose that one has self-chosen; and that one values it enough to put their whole time on it; and when you're doing that, you're bound to be awake.

Next question:

(How can I get rid of this flu that's been hanging on for weeks and weeks.)

As soon as you find out, let me know; and I will pass the word on to everybody who calls me about it. I just got off the phone a few minutes ago with a lady who says she's had it for over a year. So I finally decided to tell everybody that tells me they want to get over the flu that keeps reoccurring, or something to that affect, that they probably just have a mild case of age, so be thankful they don't have anything worse.

(Regarding a new purpose. How do I know the new purpose would work better than the old one?)

Well, I don't know that we're thinking in terms of better or worse. We only think in those terms when we're thinking about the four dual basic urges. We're not thinking whether it would be better for me or for anybody else-the one thing we could say is, does it keep me awake?

Now we know from long years of experience-everybody, not just me-everybody knows, that as long as you're struggling along at the four dual basic urges, you're asleep. Some literature goes a little further and says you're dead, and suggests that you "raise from among the dead, oh sleeper". So they kind of put that together. So if I had a new purpose, I'm awake in order to carry it out; and we don't know what's better and worse, so we feel that living-if that is what you are interested in-is served only by having a conscious purpose. Dying-if that's what you're interested in-stick with the old one and you'll go to sleep and soon get there.

So not trying to determine whether it's better or worse, good or bad, right or wrong, we are only seeing that one leads to survival--the other leads to instant non-survival. Way back in the old mythical story of the Garden of Eden, they told that "when they eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil" (which would be the tree of opposites, old, young, bad, good, right, wrong, should, should not, all these things), they said in that day you shall die. It would appear that as long as we are interested in getting what man by his animalistic nature has determined is good, pleasure, comfort, attention, approval, importance and escaping what he has determined is bad, is pain, being ignored, being rejected or feeling inferior-Man decided he knows what's better, what's worse, and what's bad and what's right, what's wrong, etc; and this leads him to being sound asleep--which is dead; and in a very few years, literally dead physically, mentally, emotionally and every other way.

So we think that the new purpose might be to spit out the "tree of the knowledge of good and evil". It says there is another tree around that is available, but man has ignored it then, and is ignoring it now; and that is the tree of life. So, I don't know about anybody else, but I'm interested in finding the tree of life, and living it. We can't have the old purpose of being non-disturbed and hope to go to the new tree. In fact, man was put out of the Garden of Eden in the mythical story because he had already eaten of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and was in a royal mess--so that if he did get a hold of the tree of life and live forever--can you imagine what horror it would be? He would go ahead and age and deteriorate, fall apart, be senile, have Alzheimers dis-ease and all the rest of the stuff, but he couldn't die.

So maybe that dying is a wonderful mercy if one insists upon eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. Consider that for a long time. It might be interesting to think about.

Now we have another question:

(If I make a new purpose, does that mean that I don't, or won't do anything associated with the old purpose.)

I don't think we could have both purposes at the same time. I don't know what one might do that's associated with the old purpose at all. I think if a person has a new purpose, one is busy about it.

Let's take for instance. Suppose one picked up a very simple one that says: "I will contribute to a pleasant mood." So one would be about the business of contributing to a pleasant mood regardless of how many critics one had, regardless of how many people come up to find fault with you and tell you what a dirty dog you were and so forth. You would still go on and find nice things to say about them.

One man told me one time that you could always tell a person when he was sincere. Even though what you meant was that he sincerely beat his wife every morning. You could also say the man appeared to be "well read" and maybe the only thing he's read well is the funny papers and whatever it is-he appears to be "well read". So you make these kinds of statements. I don't know whether they would be done to gain pleasure and comfort or attention or not-the point is that what is our motive for doing it.

If my motive was to gain somebody's approval or escape their disapproval, it's done for one thing; and if I do the same thing for the purpose of being about my business of contributing to a pleasant mood and a harmonious mood wherever, I may be…..the affect on me would be entirely different.

So we're not even concerned with what the action is, but we're concerned with what I's motive is for using it. I'm sure that it would be common sense under the four dual basic urges to practice simple good manners and be considerate of all people. If I did it only for that purpose, it would have one result; and it would have a different result if I did it because it fit my purpose of contributing to a pleasant mood regardless of whether somebody else over here did it or not, or whether they enjoyed it or not, or even knew about it. I don't think it would appear to make any difference. The point is not what you do, but what is your purpose in doing it. What is your motive? What's your will being carried out?

When it all gets down, the person we want to study a whole lot is #1. I want to know about me; and I want to know what my purpose is, and I want to be acting it out. So I'm sure that sometimes a person's behavior with the new purpose would be very similar or almost identical to the person with the old purpose if we only went by appearances or some behavior.

You know there is an old Zen story that the man said "BEFORE ENLIGHTENMENT, he chopped wood and carried water; and AFTER ENLIGHTENMENT, he chopped wood and carried water. You see, there's an entirely different activity going on by the enlightened man than the unenlightened man. So let's think on that one for a while.

So next question:

I want to be free to experience, but I find conflict in A and B too strong.
I establish my purpose to be a good guest and contribute to a pleasant mood, but does that always mean to somebody else's pleasant mood instead of mine?)

Now there's no such thing as another person's pleasant mood and my pleasant mood-there's only a pleasant mood. I think we have repeatedly said: If you were in a car going down the road all by yourself, you'd want a pleasant mood in the car. So the pleasant mood is being made for you. If you're somewhere else, and you're contributing to a pleasant mood, it is for you, and it is for everybody around you. I can hardly conceive that I would be in a foul mood and be contributing to somebody else's pleasant mood. It flat doesn't make sense. There's no way you could do that.

So when I contribute to a pleasant mood, the mood covers everybody around including me. In other words, if I'm in a room with eight people, and I have a pleasant mood, it covers nine people. If I'm in a room with only one person in it, that's #1, then that pleasant mood only covers one. Mood is something we live in like a fish lives in water-it is not something I'm doing for another person or doing for myself. It is a state I'm setting up all around me. You might say the only light you will ever live in is that which you generate for yourself. So if I generate a pleasant harmonious mood, I'm in that mood as well as everybody else around because the mood is the environment; and we're all in the environment, so it is not just for me or for another person.

If you're going to try and please somebody just because you think you should please them in order to get along, you're back in the four dual basic urges; and the four dual basic urges-number four decision of the 4 dbu's says: It's important to please them, and I don't want to please them, but it's important to please them or I will be punished or be in difficulty.

So to make a new purpose means have something to do beside the four dual basic urges. We have a little transformation chart around here that says "you can't use a new method in order to gain an old purpose and call it a new purpose-it just isn't that. You're still trying to work on the old purpose.

Now as we said a few minutes ago, you can't always jump out and start a new purpose. You only see the desirability of having it, and if you haven't seen the real tragedy, or I could say the real joke in the four dual basic urges-you know tragic and jokes are pretty close to similar sometimes.

So if we haven't really seen the total devastating effect of living by the old purpose of being non-disturbed, we're in absolutely no position to make a new purpose. We're only trying to make a new behavior so that we'll have the four dual basic urges.

So we're going to stop here for today; and we still have a number of questions. We will continue with Question and Answer on our next session. Have a lovely weekend.