Someone remarks, “Have you heard the bad news?” and already you are nervous. Another person glances at you with contempt and you feel a stab of pain. Listen! You can learn to catch and stop a dark suggestion before it enters and hurts you. The secret consists of not living on the level of harmful ideas, of seeing that in Reality they have nothing to do with you. A person dwelling in a peaceful cabin on the mountaintop has no connection with the worries and agonies in the wicked city below.
Here is how to stay in the peaceful cabin. Do not answer the world when it tries to drag you down to its dark level. Do not assume that you must reply when someone tries to make you talk like he talks. There is no law that says you must injure yourself with your habitual and wrong responses. You can detach yourself from memorized self-injury anytime you want. So do it. Do not answer tormenting spirits. Defy their demand that you converse with them. Remain strong.
This exercise will show you how to overcome the world in the right way.
“There is no law that says you must injure yourself with your habitual and wrong responses.” VH goes on to say that at any time, you can do this and set yourself free from the surrounding madness. We have more power than we think. It’s no fun living life with a victim mentality.
The part of us that observes our reactions is something else. So if we stay with that, we can’t go under.
It will initially feel uncomfortable because we are in the habit of going under. But, if we keep practicing this exercise, it will become second nature.
“Turn your back on the whole world (the whole world inside of yourself).” (VH) Go your own way!
Suppose you are taken over by anything and everything. In other words, dark ideas catch me at every turn. No problem. Another saying in this work is that it is good to see the bad. Here is where honesty comes in. If I am honest in seeing that yes, I am taken over by dark ideas and they do catch me at every turn, then that honesty will help me to see the dark ideas sooner and sooner until they no longer catch me at every turn. Whatever stage a person is at is fine as long as they are willing to look at it honestly.
Honesty is a great first step in seeing the bad and seeing how it takes you over. That honest seeing will take you to the next step, where you can catch dark ideas before they catch you.
Just discovered this website through reading Vernon Howard, and I’m delighted I have!
Thank you. Nice to have you visit!
hello dear,
i am not able to see articles/blogs of previous months. is there a problem in the website? i asked this because i am not able to see book section also. the content seem to be missing.
thank you
Hello Karan, You might try shutting down your computer and then, reassessing pages. I’ve checked and everything is loading for me on my end? -Steve