CHAPTER 8 – ORGANISATION OF DAILY ROUTINE
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Stairway To Freedom
Chapter 8
Organisation Of Daily Routine
We are accustomed, within whatever society we happen to reside, to regard ourselves as being fairly at one with that society. We obey laws and conventions that enable us to fit into routines and follow codes of conduct that have an effect of enabling the society within which we live effectively to operate. This cohesion of different peoples with different backgrounds in terms of upbringing, education, class, and skills into one force is considered to be a vital and necessary manner in which society operates. Without such patterns of modification of behavioural manners, it is expected that society, as we know it, would crumble, that business life could not effectively be conducted, and that breakdown in general terms of law and order would ensue.
Certainly, we have a sort of balance maintained in terms of social, business, and political life and it is true that it is considered necessary to eject from society those who do not fit in and yet how much regard is placed upon the true quality of that life? How much consideration is apportioned by any living individual or group to the values that we acclaim to appreciate so much? We all respect law and order. Law and order, if you consider for a moment, point one in the direction of the concept called God. The originator of natural laws, the laws of nature, is God. The concepts of peace, love, and harmony are godly concepts. Order, the opposite of chaos, is the essence of the power of God. The coming together of matter, of life, of society in a cohesive, peaceful, and constructive manner is a God-like quality. Therefore, we must accept that law and order are rules that should impel the followers along a path designed to bring them closer to God.
However, how many people who use the law in their daily lives ever consider whether they are acting in a God-like manner? How many politicians, solicitors, judges, and business people who use the rule of law, who consult books of law, and who use the law to their own advantage realise that they are acting in contradiction to the concept of God? The contradiction, the opposite of God, is of course Devil. We work either for God or we are used by the forces of destruction. There is never any intermediate state. You must be aware at all times that because nothing is ever stationery, that change is the only constant, that you work actively for the power of good, or you will be used by the power of evil.
Do not suppose that you have to practice black magic in order to work for the dark forces. Do not suppose either that you are accused of being evil yourself. Very few people actually practice the black arts but many, many people are insensitive to the knowledge of the needs to strive actively for God. Many people still sleep in a spiritual sense and would, therefore, almost certainly fall prey to the power of evil. Therefore, we ask you to accept that, unless you study your motives carefully each and every moment of the day and act only in a way that you feel and hope will be of benefit to your fellow man, you will be used by the power of chaos and will bring unhappiness into your life, the lives of others, and will strengthen the grip that the devil has on the world.
Ignorance is no defence. The law works quite automatically for good or for evil and you work either for good or for evil. So next time you consider using the word “law” either in the sense of being law-abiding or by using man’s laws to affect something, stop and reflect that only God makes laws and those laws, when reflected through you, should always bring peace, love, and harmony and happiness to all. Any other use of any type of law would bring you into the army of the lord of chaos. Choose and choose wisely.
We now turn to an aspect of the disciplines for obtaining peace and tranquility and consider the effect of pride. When man is born, he incarnates with an aura associated with him that is an essential part of him and is there to allow the life forces from his bodies of light access in a two-way manner between the physical body and those auras. This aura under discussion acts as a go-between, a staging post, for the essential spiritual forces that must interplay with man. It is extremely dense compared to the true auras and, although it has no life in itself, it is often animated by the spirit residing within it. It is called the etheric double. It is easy to see with the trained naked eye and appears as a white mist close to, but not touching, the body. Its sole function is to allow access to the human form and vice versa.
However, it often acts in a strange manner. Because it is both very close to the Earth in vibrational terms and because it is yet an aura, it is subject to influence by earthly emotional forces. These are given out by animals, by people both incarnate and discarnate. Its closeness to the Earth indicates that it does not have the benefit of influence by higher elevated souls. The only influence it receives is from crass, egotistical, and base forces. Therefore, it responds to those forces, vibrates in harmony with them, and as a result feeds those very negative attributes into the personality of the individual.
We usually find that a baby is very selfish, egotistical, and self-centred, etcetera. We accept that babies are like that and assume that it is a natural part of being a baby. It isn’t. Babies born on Earth are able to accept information from all of their auras as can anybody else and, should that be the case, the infant would be loving, kind, and peaceful. However, because that child has not learned to ignore the pull of that etheric double, he is held within its grip and becomes the rather unpleasant creature that we all know. Fortunately, most of them, as they grow older, learn automatically to ignore information from the etheric double and begin to receive information from their true auras and thus they become more lovable.
We say that they grow out of those conditions but, of course, there are always exceptions. Some babies grow to manhood and are still held, at least to some extent, within the grip of the influence of the etheric double, thus feeding into their realities the base earthly concepts mentioned above. Such people are not very nice. They act quite impulsively and often violently. They have little or no control of their tempers. We call them childish, an accurate description for that is what they are. There is no correlation between the actions of an individual being influenced by the emotions transmitted to him through the auras and the action taking place within someone under influence of the malign forces.
In one, the auras accept a vibration of a particular rate or level and cause sympathetic vibrations to be set up within that individual and, in the other case, that of someone held in the grip of evil, the process occurring is one in which the action of the auras is being reduced through negative influence. Effectively, one process is the opposite of the other. However, the effect observed by another of the result of each type of interference often appears similar. Actions performed can be outbursts of violent temper or physical violence. The individual may fluctuate between bursts of good humour and deep despair, or indeed of outbursts against any individual with whom he may be in contact. But, the key to study of any person’s behavioural patterns is to compare the actions of that individual to a known norm.
We do not understand how a person influenced by the devil might act but we are familiar with the actions of a child and we can compare the action of someone with that concept. Therefore, we assume that those who act in a typically childish manner would be still influenced by their etheric double. Those actions might well be, as was mentioned above, quick and violent outbursts of temper, selfishness, mindless cruelty, disregard for others, and possibly, the need for much sleep also as lots of nervous energy is used and is not replaced through the auras.
It is fairly easy to spot those trends within an individual including oneself. The appropriate action must, of course, be to allow the auras to expand through the trinity of prayer, meditation, and devotion to God. Slowly, the etheric double will reduce in importance as the auras fill with spiritual energy and balance is restored to that person. If one discounts childish behaviour, then all the negative trends within people must, to a certain extent, be the result of or credited to the dark forces. The other disagreeable states might include slyness, deviousness, excessive pride, the desire to succeed at the expense, if necessary, of others.
Perhaps the easiest way to comprehend the difference between the two states is always to bear in mind that children act in selfish yet harmless fashions. If their actions harm another, it is not by design but by accident. In the state of someone held in the grip of evil, the opposite applies. The essence of evil is that it should harm as many as possible. Thus, the person effectively influenced by evil would, by his desire to achieve success or fame, be quite at home with the idea of manipulating individuals or masses in order to gain his own ends.
We see the result in capitalism, or indeed communism, in their worst forms where groups of people are exploited for the benefit of one or more individuals. This is truly evil. It has resulted in the doleful lives of millions of people, who throughout time have been treated as slaves, as objects to be used and discarded when their use has finished. It has resulted in the wars that have rocked this planet since man first became aware of how to invent weapons and it directly results in much of the climatic upset that devastates large tracts of the world from time to time. It must be clear, then, that of the two types of behaviour under consideration, the second is by far the worst and should be eradicated from the auras as soon as possible.
From that, we turn to the concept of organisation of daily routine that will enable those wishing to follow the path the means of so doing. Routine must be established that will give the individual time to follow his employment and his worldly duties whilst, at the same time, will enable him time to retire in prayer and meditation and to the greater concepts of life so that he might enlarge the power within his auras, thus bringing peace and contentment to himself and with those with whom he comes in contact and will ultimately cause peace to reign in the world.
The first aspect that must be considered relates to rest. It is easy to fill one’s life with activity, to drive oneself to the limits chasing a concept, pursuing an objective, but it must be realised that that is not the way to find peace within oneself. The first requirement is to care for the temple of the soul which is the body. That temple must be nourished adequately and sensibly and also sufficient rest must be taken to ensure that the body each day is renewed, regenerated.
How often do we wake in the morning and find ourselves exhausted following a night spent tossing and turning as our minds relived events of the day and events to come thus preventing us from wakening refreshed? It is important, therefore, that one realises that, before retiring each night, a state of mind should be entered into in which the day’s events are dismissed, put behind one, so that deep and sound sleep may obtain throughout the night. Only then can one awaken sufficiently refreshed so as to face the day and sufficiently full of energy so as to complete the tasks that one has set oneself in pursuit of God.
It is therefore suggested that the student, before retiring, should sit quietly for a few moments and mull over the events of the day, make a mental note of that which has been left unfinished, and make a mental note of that which has been finished. Finally, one should place all of it in God’s hands, pray for peace, and pray for rest, and no matter how little one has accomplished that day, how large the burden, one should attempt to put them upon one side in order to retire into deep and restful sleep.
With practice, that state may obtain. Like all things, the more one practices, the easier it becomes. If, as do so many, you are in the habit of reliving through dreams the events of the day, then you will need to break that habit and so it will take time. But, we urge you to persevere and, ultimately, you will begin to sleep the deep sleep of the just as you place yourself in God’s hands, and thus gradually, as you awaken each day refreshed, energised, and able to face each day fully, you will achieve more and more. Then you will find that you are able to rest more completely each evening in the sense that you have completed each day the tasks that you set yourself.
Once awakened, it is suggested that, before rising, one says a prayer of welcoming to God and of placing oneself in God’s hands for the day. Then, if one has sufficient time, it might be advisable to rise and, before commencing employment, to meditate for a few moments. However, that is not always possible. Therefore, should that not be possible, we suggest that you at least try to hold on to the concepts of peace and love and service to mankind as you travel to your employment, ignoring all the upsets that you see and hear and are party to upon your journey. Arrive at your employment, if you can, in a state of peace and tranquility and attempt to maintain that state throughout the day, involving yourself fully in the finer concepts that your employment entails but avoiding completely the base and negative aspects such as argument, jealousy, and seeking to advance oneself above one’s fellow man.
If you keep your peace within yourself, you should arrive home in the evening still with sufficient energy to pass the evening without feeling exhausted. All too often, people arrive home from work embittered by the trials and tribulations of the day, feeling exhausted by the malign forces that have swayed around them, draining their psychic energies and leaving them feeling sick and tired. Should that happen to you, we suggest that, before you arrive at your work, you ask God to protect you, that you place a barrier of love around you mentally like a large umbrella and that you ensure that you do not break out from under that umbrella by entering into the arguments that your colleagues may try to involve you with. Keep your peace. Do your work. Serve your fellow man, but do not become involved emotionally with any backbiting or negative aspects that you may find, all too frequently, you have in the past been involved with. So it is hoped that you will learn to arrive home and still be feeling fit and well.
When you have completed your household duties and other things that you may have to do each evening, it is suggested that you sit and meditate for a period of time. The technique has been mentioned elsewhere and will not be repeated now but we suggest that prayer and meditation will advance you greatly. Thus, having meditated, it is suggested that, if you can, you pass the evening in quiet and in tranquility, perhaps reading, perhaps watching television if you wish, but we urge you not to become too involved emotionally with the films of violence that you see. Do not become involved with the newscasts showing violence and all the negative aspects which man glorifies so much. Then, as was mentioned earlier, we ask that you think about the day and then dismiss it and retire to bed to sleep the sleep of the just once again. Thus it is possible to fill your life with tranquility.
Should you do so, you will find that you are full of energy that, in the degree that you serve your fellow man in the correct fashion, God will send a vital force to energise you and you will be able to go on and on. However, as was mentioned earlier, there is a place for all things. There is a time for work and a time for rest and there is a time for sleep. In the Bible, it was considered that 8 hours work, 8 hours rest, and 8 hours sleep were the correct proportions. It may be so, it is up to you. You decide for yourself how much work you can do, how much rest you need, and how much sleep you need, but we ask that you respect that trinity, that you do not try and work all day and snatch a few hours’ sleep. Neither do we ask that you spend your time in idleness achieving nothing. We ask that you try to strike a balance within your life of serving man, of drawing energy within yourself through the process of rest which should include meditation, and then that you finally recharge your batteries through beautiful sleep.
It is expected that by following this process, your health will improve, that your standing within the community might improve, and that you will become a centre for spiritual guidance for those who feel lost. Should that happen so that people come to you to discover the secret of your newfound health and vitality, we ask that you transmit the information to them in full as we have given it to you. By so doing, the word of God will be spread among the people of the world and the concept of peace, so vitally necessary today, will be spread as all mankind begins to relax, bathed in the beauty of the light of God shining from their souls.
Gradually, peace will be restored to individuals and to groups and to nations. First must come establishing the correct manner of living. No amount of hope, work, or argument will cause peace within the heart. No degree of passing of legislation, of creating armed forces, and of making weapons will bring the desired effect. The premier requirement is for each and every individual to establish within himself a code of conduct and ethic or behaviour that will bring peace and health into this heart and body. Then, and only then, can prayer and meditation be truly effective in strengthening the peace and the power within that individual.
From that platform may others be bathed in the golden glow of the power of God emanating from such an individual, thus causing within the souls of all lost and malcontent the first stirrings as their souls respond in harmony to the vibrant wave of power. Once stirred into life, the soul never sleeps again. So, we may assume that all who come into contact with a vibrant being are, to some extent, affected. They will have their souls awakened and thus they will be on the path to perfection whether they realise it or not. Their actions will diminish in terms of violence and anti-social behaviour.
We therefore look expectantly forward to the day when any individual with soul still sleeping cannot avoid but meet with vibrant-souled individuals wherever he may turn as the word of how, and why, to achieve spirituality is absorbed into beings of more and more people. This chain reaction must and will take place but it starts with you. Having been privileged by whatever means God chose to give you access to the information and directions of both the need for and the wherewithal how to achieve soul growth, you have a burden placed upon you to fill your existence with that soul growth until you become a light shining before the Lord.
Then, you too will influence others by bringing that light into their world, lighting their darkness. See to it that you do indeed become a shining example. Your future depends upon it. The future ultimately of millions of others depends upon it. The peace of the world depends upon it. Understand, if you can, the enormity of the responsibility we place upon your shoulders. We do not give you more than you can bear but we give you the maximum that you can carry. As you grow in stature, the burden will increase until you can carry the weight of the world on your shoulders as does Jesus. Like him, accept the load and put in your maximum effort for the rest of your days. Your reward will be beyond your wildest imagination as you reach the elevated heights of the masters.
As you begin to pray, to meditate, and to serve God in man, animals, plants, and all that exists, you automatically place yourself on the list for selection by the masters as a neophyte, or student. Over the months and years that you follow the trinity of prayer, devotion, and service to God, you will develop the gifts of the spirit. These may scarcely be noticeable to you or they may greatly develop as some so-called mediums have them in clairaudience – the ability to hear discarnate voices, clairvoyance – the faculty of seeing into different realms, clairsentience – feeling through the auras, the healing touch, and many other facilities.
As you develop the gifts, so the teachers and master who dedicate themselves to spreading peace throughout the world will begin to use you in various ways. You may indeed become a medium, spreading the word of the greater truths to people, or you may become a healer. Yet again, you may be required to preach, to write, or to communicate in some fashion the truth to mankind. By doing so diligently, you will be accepted more and more into the brotherhood and you will have yet greater tasks placed upon you. Ensure then that you complete each task that you are given to the best of your ability because only maximum effort is satisfactory to God. He will understand your limitations and failures but He sees also sloth and idleness.
Do not let that criticism apply to you. Seek always to maintain good health. Seek always to enjoy exercise and rest in the correct proportions. Nourish your soul with happy, harmless pursuits and hobbies, and you will be in a position to become a faithful servant of God.
Mention was made earlier of medium-ship. There are some people who call themselves spiritualistic mediums. The ability to develop the gifts of the spirit is open to all. It is a process that commences with meditation and finishes as the auras are developed thus enabling the individual to explore the realms relevant to the auras developed. However, as was mentioned many times, you have a number of auras. At their lowest level, they are little removed from the state of vibration of the Earth and, at their highest, are close to God. The stumbling block to developing the auras is soul growth, which is tied, to a certain degree, to wisdom which, in turn, is connected to one’s intelligence. The lower auras may be developed by almost anyone who applies themselves but the key to development of the higher auras is soul growth. Only by dint of long years of prayer, meditation, and devotion to God can the higher auras be developed.
So it is that many spiritualistic mediums operate on their lower auras. They are limited, therefore, to explore those realms and the higher realms remain unsavoured. More importantly, the individuals that they tend to communicate with are those who, when on Earth, were considered ordinary. The information received tends to be trite and lacking wisdom. We do not criticise such mediums. They do a valuable job in bringing enlightenment concerning life after death to the world. They bring comfort to many bereaved but we point out that the student should not follow their example.
Strive to achieve soul growth and you will then speak with wisdom. Mention must also be made that it is not necessary to be holy in order to achieve the gifts of the spirit. The greatest black magicians who lived had the gifts highly developed and used them to the disadvantage of fellow man. In between the holy and the devilish are many states. Be careful if you contact a medium. Do not assume that they are necessary holy people. Many are but not all. Use your judgement and tread wearily.
It is, therefore, plain that those who work for the power of God and those who work for the power of evil, whilst they are at poles opposing, come very close at a central point, at a dividing line, between the power of good and those opposing forces. Thus, it is very easy to observe someone richly endowed with the power of God and also someone enmeshed within the power of evil and see that they are so. It becomes more difficult, however, the nearer and nearer they come to be what we might call ordinary people as they approach the dividing line. Thus, we must consider whether we act exclusively for the power of good or whether, sometimes, we might step over that dividing line and are used by the dark forces.
We must consider the types of action that would deem to fall into either camp. Let us, therefore, presume that we are working for God but that we are perhaps not the most shining example of a God-filled individual. Should such a person suffer from irritability, anger, jealousy, heartache, should anybody working for the power of God show any inkling of being less than perfection, the answer is, of course, yes. Even the greatest amongst us is not perfect. Would that we were. If we were, we would not be here. We would be at one with God. Thus, we would disappear into that great force called the Godhead and we would not be here to communicate knowledge to you.
By that very token, it presupposes that none of us are perfect however much we try. Some are tempted more than others. Some give way more than others. It is relatively easy to lock oneself away in a monastery on a top of a mountain and not be tempted by fellow man and to fool oneself that one is at the Godhead. That is not so. An advanced spirit would be able to go into hell if necessary and still not be tempted. But we presuppose that the majority of us have very much those human attributes with us that do indeed lead us into temptation.
The nature of that temptation was mentioned earlier and it is supposed, purely thinking in terms of hatred, jealousy, despair, and anguish, that being negative forces, should one feel them, one is acting in co-harmony with the dark forces. That is not necessarily so. As was mentioned, even the greatest of us suffer from those faults to a certain extent and yet we would assume that the greatest are squarely on the side of good. Therefore, should you feel those negative forces rising within you from time to time in response to temptation, we suggest that you attempt to put them to one side if you can rather than give way to them.
We want you to adopt a pose that enables you to recognise instantly when you are acting in an ungodly manner and begin to correct yourself immediately. Then, even though you have been tempted, you will still be acting in a godly manner because you will be trying to correct those faults. On the other hand, those whose souls still sleep would find that they would justify the reasons why they can give way to that indignation, those rages, those hatreds. They would justify them in terms of being correct in relation to some concept that they would argue and all around would agree that they are justified in so feeling. However, because that is so, there would be little or no attempt to correct or to reduce those passions and then, that person would be adjudged to be within the grip of the powers of darkness.
We hope, therefore, that you will get into that habit of examining your motives and your reasons for acting in any particular fashion and should you find yourself becoming angry over any situation, should you find yourself seeking justification for your anger, we ask you to remember always that you will be acting incorrectly. You will only be acting in the correct godly fashion when, and only when, you put aside any anger, any of the negative forces, and seek to maintain peace and tranquility within your heart. That might well be your watchword. The moment any feeling of peace and tranquility leaves your heart, be assured that you are acting in an incorrect manner.
The objective to which one strives is to maintain peace at all times within the heart. With peace, one can assume a state of prayer as one, through that prayer, recognises the power of God within oneself and within all things. That power and that prayer may become a part of your life until you lead a life, as has been mentioned in other publications, a life of constant prayer. It was the aim of Saint Paul and we suggest that you make it your aim also. But, you will not achieve such a state should you constantly give way to feelings of anger and any of the negative forces. Concern yourself only with peace and strive always for that. And so we recommend that you arm yourself through the trinity of prayer, meditation, and devotion to God. That is all that is needed to equip you with sufficient power to keep you firmly on the side of goodness. Then, no matter what shortcomings you have, you will still be able to keep your oneness with God.
We recommend also that you spend your time in a relaxed state, never becoming emotionally aroused, excited, or with inflamed passions if you possibly can avoid it. Arrange your life so that you have sufficient time to accomplish the things that you need to do and that you want to do. Ensure that you take sufficient rest and that you arise sufficiently early to enable a state of balance to be maintained in your life. If you find yourself hurrying, it is because you have been negligent in completing the tasks that you were assigned to do. To hurry is, therefore, to admit that you have not acted in a godly manner because nature never hurries. Nature knows what it has to do and allows itself sufficient time in which to do it. It then devotes its energy to completing that task and proceeds steadfastly towards completion. It is a human failing to attempt to undertake more tasks than can be successfully completed, to diversify on the grounds that one is achieving more when, in fact, one achieves less.
One should never be rigid. One should always be like the willow, swaying with the breeze, but, like the willow, we should concentrate our energies in one direction only at a time. If you think that you cannot do this because of the complexity of your life then it is suggested that you adjust your lifestyle until you have a minimum of diversions. When you go to your employment, act for your employer. When you return home, then act for yourself. Try to avoid mixing one with the other. Your weekends would best be spent in relaxation and rest to recuperate the energies that must be extended in the coming week. It is unwise to fill one’s weekend with frantic activity as if to make up for lost time. You are merely losing more time by so doing. God will allow you sufficient time to allow you to complete any and all of the tasks that you wish to do. So do not hurry. Work diligently at all your tasks and you will find that your life will begin to run much more smoothly.
That is the end of Chapter 8.
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