“Perception is Possession”-Vernon Howard. What if right at this moment truthful ideas are working to get through to you and they can’t because your cluttered mind and thoughts have no room to accept them? What a delightful subject for discussion. Pause for a moment just to consider that maybe you have missed something that is very life-changing. Picture a blackboard loaded with sentences and equations. So many different statements and quotes and diagrams written over each other that you can’t understand any of it. It’s a mess. This picture depicts your mind which is packed full with contradictions, both true and false information, assumptions, beliefs and ideas. So here is the extremely important question to ask everyone; Has your present mind given you a life that is happy and free? A life that brings you peace and contentment? Do you find your existence here on planet earth a true pleasure? You may be reluctant to pose these questions to yourself because you feel that these questions are getting to close to you and are threatening or irritating, but I assure you, you are on the edge of a marvelous discovery.
Your perception is possession when you entertain the idea that you might have missed the mark. If your goal is to arrive at peace and happiness and you end up at pain and suffering, you simply made a mistake. Finding that mistake places you back on the correct course. A person must get so tired of pretending that their life is working. If you go out and struggle through your day you are making a mistake, which you can discover. There is another way and by working with higher ideas you can erase that mental blackboard. Continue working with higher ideas delivers the peace you seek. There are thousands of inner diamonds to discover. True ideas and concepts are trying to get through to you right now. Start your life completely over.
True Inspiration happens, but only to the few that suspect that they may be fooling themselves. Vernon often speaks about a “Higher Hint” which happens when any human being realizes they have been lying to themselves. Pretending they are doing fine when daily life is showing them they have missed the mark completely. They realize how miserable they are, and this is a needed step in getting rid of misery once and for all. This is good news, because with this inner correction, they can go on to find what their hearts truly want…peace of mind. Keeping your heart pure is a challenge, but brings the relief most people do not know exists. They decide to settle down with false, un-rewarding beliefs and ideas (falsehood they were taught by society) that drive them slowly insane. Yes, there is another way, even if your thoughts and feelings say this is not true. You have been tricked and are a fool to negativity (both yours and from others). It’s time to take a right stand for your real life, which would never hurt anyone else ever.
These ideas (truths) are much more magical than one first sees. Every problem, which may be plenty, can disappear in front of your own eyes, and put a smile on your face and a smile in your heart.
One big problem is imagination. It seems much easier to imagine all is well and the life I presently know is all there is, but with honest investigation, we can perceive something different. Even if what we see with honest self-study is not flattering to our ego, that is just a phase to go through. Living with honest perception may seem scary, but that fear is just a trick to keep us a slave to imagination which keeps us a slave to an imaginary “good” life instead of discovering a truly Good Life.
Can you recall the Lion in The Wizard of OZ when the Straw Man, the Lion, and the Tin Man are going into the witches castle to rescue Dorothy, and the Lion says fearfully, “somebody pulled my tail,” and the Straw Man says back him, “It was you,” pointing to the lion’s hand holding his own tail. We cause all our own troubles, but we are not aware we are doing it. Vernon’s Teaching are all about developing self-awareness. To become problem free by letting “The Light’ dissolve the self and all it’s problems. My job is to see this happening, so I can drop it.