First Leave the Old
Thank God and Truth for Vernon Howard, a true hero! The following is selected from Mystic Path to Cosmic Power:
People don’t fail in their cosmic quest because they lack intelligence. The reason for failure can be illustrated by a case: A man living in an uncomfortable hut is told he has inherited a mansion, but, if he refuses to leave his hut, he cannot occupy his new home. He may insist on a guarantee that the mansion actually exists, but his only guarantee is to see and occupy the mansion for himself.
Cosmic growth requires that we first leave the old. We cannot occupy two places at the same time. Obviously, to get there, we must first leave here. This means we must take the first step–abandoning our habitual ways of thinking in order to make room for the new and powerful. To fly in an airplane above the storm, we must first leave the ground.
Growth comes by daring to risk more of the unknown than we are willing to risk. Dare it, venture it–and grow. Declare, “My known ways of thinking have brought me nothing but failure, so why cling to them? I dare to gradually detach myself from the old and the unworkable.” Forget the difficulties, and confusions, and disappointments, for they are unimportant. Remember the only vital thing–the direction in which you are heading.
Weekly Exercise
Confidently abandon yourself to higher truths.
Here is a heroic act!
What does it mean to confidently abandon yourself to something? It means you are completely unconcerned toward that something, that you don’t even think about its reliability, just as a child abandons his welfare to his father.
Try it. Totally abandon yourself to higher truths.
There is no point in compromising. Compromise is a subtle thief of inner abundance. A spiritual principle is either true, or it isn’t. So go all out. Be different from the millions of people described by Henry David Thoreau as leading lives of “quiet desperation.” Dare to test things for yourself. It is a heroic business to personally experience a reality as a reality.
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On this fine Thanksgiving day, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the Light and direction Vernon Howard has left us with!
This work is really so simple. If you feel bad, drop it. Abandon yourself to something Higher. All “yourself” can ever do is think frantically all the time and experience negative emotions. So when you drop these feelings and thoughts, you leave the shack to go to the mansion. Such a great reminder on Thanksgiving!