VERNA ON MATERIAL LIFE

2.8.84

First, you should remember that you are in a physical world, you have come into that physical world for certain reasons known to your innermost self. You may be able to tap those reasons consciously, or you may not. It does not matter. The first duty, therefore, is to yourself, in that physical world. We have talked before about the illusion of the world, that it is a game, but it is a game that must be played seriously.

You are in a certain society in that world, you should fit in with that society. If you do not, then certain resentments may build up against you and these may - I stress 'may' - hinder you. They will certainly cause you to expend great mental and nervous energy in warding them off. So you should first take care of your body - see that it has rest, that it has a well-balanced diet, not too little and not too much. Follow whatever dietary dictates seem appropriate to you, for what suits one person may not necessarily suit another, but follow common sense rules.

On the matter of diet, the most sensible one is to make sure you have a balanced diet, not emphasizing one food at the expense of others. Make sure you have a sufficiency of live foods - that is, the raw fruits and vegetables. You need a sufficiency of the starches, you will need a sufficiency of the proteins. Make sure they (the types of food) are balanced and do not over-eat one group more than others. Check your weight for your height and your frame, and do not let your weight drop too low or become too heavy. In either instance the energies in the body are depleted and there are not enough available for your spiritual work.

You should engage to the best of your ability in some useful work. You are in that world, you breathe the air, you receive sunshine. In your society you receive many other benefits. It is your duty to contribute to your world, to the world and your society and your family. We feel it is preferable, if there is a clash between this world (that is, Spirit World) and family members, (that) you should put the family first until the conditions resolve themselves. This is to prevent a build-up of the resentments that I mentioned earlier. In the family setting resentments can be especially damaging to one embarking on the spiritual path deliberately. Everyone is really on the spiritual path. I mean this talk to be applied specifically to those who are deliberately and consciously engaging on their spiritual path.Work so you can contribute to your society to the best of your ability. We recognise that every one has different abilities. You chose those abilities when you incarnated and no one ability is any better, or any lesser than any other ability. They may be different, but there is no difference in quality. We do not wish you to go in for strong ascetic practices. These concentrate the mind too much on the body and hence detract from your spiritual development. These are also apt to increase pride - pride in the suffering you are experiencing. What is the value of suffering if you inflict it on yourself? Is not self-inflicted punishment punishable in your army? There is no glory in hurting yourself, by deliberately and consciously hurting yourself. It may be said that all suffering is self inflicted, since, when you incarnate, you may have decided that you are willing to undertake certain suffering. But that is a different class to what I am talking about at the moment in these strict ascetic practices.Remember, you have incarnated, you have taken on a life. Live it, live your own life! You are responsible for yourself. Make your own decisions in worldly matters, in your social interactions. We are here to guide you, we can give you suggestions when you are in difficulties, but we are not here to lead your life for you. We are not here to tell you what clothes to put on in the morning, or what food to have for dinner or supper. When you are in a serious quandary which may have repercussions for someone else or the future path of your life, by all means then turn to us. But you don't have to turn to us for everything.Remember, you incarnated for a purpose, if you want us to make every decision for you, you are not living out that purpose and you will have to incarnate again. Think what a waste that is! How attractive is that world to you? Wait till you see this one. Unless you live your own life, you will not have had practice in decision making, or in the interaction with other people. You will not have had chance to work out your own psychological difficulties. It is these mental qualities which you bring over here with you. It is these qualities which influence your ability to act as guides and helpers over here. You do not become a saint when you die - you are basically still the same person, and, as you adjust and learn about life in the Spirit World, that is when you start changing. If you come over here not having lived your own life, you are still going to be relying on us to do all the work. It doesn't work that way.

Do not be afraid of making mistakes. While you are in the physical body, in the physical world, you are not perfect. If you were perfect you wouldn't be there, except for a few very special people, and those people usually make their mark early in life. Mistakes are inevitable, on this side as well as on your side. In the "lower" regions of this side, mistakes can still be made. Remember that when I talk about 'higher' or 'lower', these are in inverted commas. There is really no 'higher' or 'lower' on this side, but I am using terms which I think you can understand in an effort to give you concepts which just do not exist in your world. You are like people wearing glasses rather like binoculars. Have you looked through binoculars from the wrong end? You can see like through a tunnel with a little picture right far away. That is what you are like. That is how you see the world, the universe, the totality, this is but a very small portion of it. We have much more different concepts over on this side and it is a very exciting adventure when you come over here and start exploring. Then you will see our difficulty.

So, to return to my theme. There is nothing wrong with developing what talents you have to the very best of your ability. I have just asked you to remember that you cannot be perfect. Too much strain and stress is encountered in an effort to be perfect, to produce perfect things. But you should still strive to do the best you can. But don't be too depressed if you fail. You are a spirit that is encased in a human body; and the spirit is operating through that human body. Human bodies don't always respond the way Spirit would have them respond. It is as if you had a large sheet over yourself and you are trying to do something - the sheet is draped all over you - you know how ghosts are sometimes drawn. Any way, you have this sheet draped over your hands and you are trying to cut something. This is how it is for Spirit operating through a human body. There is something between the spirit and the other objects it is trying to manipulate and, of course, the other objects also have their "sheets" over them, because you are operating in a physical world.

So do the best you can but keep relaxed within you. There is much emphasis these days on stress management and relaxation. This is a prompting from spirit to try to get this quality into human beings. In your society it is being very greatly lost. It is also being lost in the more natural societies because of pressures from your society, because of overcrowding, because of starvation and drought, because the natural covers of the earth are being eroded. Forests are being decimated and deserts are spreading, and this is putting pressure on the natural peoples. At this moment I am especially thinking of Africa.So we are prompting this emphasis on stress management. When you are under stress, when you are tense, when you are nervous, when you are heated up, Spirit cannot work through you properly. It is as if that sheet is being tied tightly round you so that you can't move. So that sensation is cut off. That is how Spirit feels when the human is stressed.

Remember what we have told you before, this world of yours, its a game. Play it like a game, to the best of your ability. Follow the rules of your society, but keep that centre of calmness, keep that relaxation. This is important for your physical bodily well-being and it is important for your own spiritual development. Each person's method of stress management will be different. Find what suits you. Leave other people free, don't try to impose your ideas on them. At the moment I have finished with stress, this is still a part of stress but I am thinking at the moment more in terms of your general life, your general attitude. Accept other people for what they are and do not impose your standards on them, because they will rebel against this. They will pull away from you and this will cause you more stress, because you are trying to impose yourself on them, and they are rebelling and you will try to impose yourself, again they will back away more and you will get nowhere. So leave other people their space. Accept them for what they are. Remember that they, too, are an incarnation of the Godness, they have their path and it is different to yours. Accept that and be at peace.

There is much more we have to tell you on this line, but we are tiring. This is the first time we have worked for some months. We can stay a few more minutes if anyone has a question, we will try to answer it.

Question: Do gurus present a valid way for people in this culture developing their spiritual nature?

Answer: If a person is attracted to the Guru's methods then it is valid for them for as long as they feel it is right for them. We do not think that the cultures are as widely separated as they used to be. The Western culture has spread so much, there is much more mixing than there used to be, and it is in an effort to keep these ancient teachings alive that they are being spread into Western societies. We see nothing wrong with this. People will only be attracted to them when it is right for them, and they will leave when it is no longer right.

We will bid you good-night. If you have any points to raise bring them up during supper and discussion. We will try to impress this medium with answers for you. We have done this before and it is less tiring than actually speaking through (her). She is tiring quite rapidly at the moment.

So, with your leave, we will say good-night and God bless you.

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