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Chapter 4 Self observation is the key to the entire process of spiritual development. Without self observation we will not recognize the wrong work of the centers. We will fail to notice our habitual way of handling life. Our habitual way will prevent proper digestion of life’s impressions; this breakdown in the refinement of impressions will prevent spiritual development. Without spiritual development we cannot expect to find any real peace or happiness. Self observation can occur only when a person’s consciousness rises to the level of self consciousness. From the two lower levels of consciousness the need to self observe is not recognized. From these two lowest levels the identities that control our thoughts and our emotions know little and care less about our spiritual development. In order to reach the identities interested in our spiritual well being we must make special efforts. These efforts are directed toward bringing the beneficial identities to the front of our consciousness where they can generate some of our emotions and some of our thoughts. By asking ourselves questions like, “Are you awake?” “Do you know what you are doing?” we enable ourselves to break momentarily from the limited consciousness that dominates our actions. By asking ourselves questions like, “Are you using any new thinking in response to this situation?” or “Are you using the right center to do this work?” we open the door to the possibilities of digesting our experiences with thoughts and emotions that allow for profit. We should use the word ‘you’ rather than ‘I’ when asking ourselves questions pertaining to our levels of consciousness, and the correctness of our actions. When we use ‘I’ we automatically assume ourselves to be one identity. We are not one unified identity. By using ‘you’ in place of ‘I’ we are recognizing our multiplicity. When we consciously recognize this multiplicity we give ourselves the opportunity to act consciously. When we recognize our multiplicity we give ourselves an opportunity to choose the identity we authorize with our power. We should learn to connect self observation to self remembering. Our moments of self observation should become moments of self observation/self remembering. Self remembering is the action of taking all the new information we have gathered about ourselves and our potential spirituality and remembering it during our moments of self consciousness. In this way we are able to use what we remember about our new selves to form new responses to life’s situations. Self observation is an action that happens as we look from the outside/in. During self observation we are figuratively standing outside ourselves watching the way we are responding to a situation. We are watching the work of the centers, we are watching the dominate identity and its identification. At that instant we have the power to act from the inside/out. At that instant we have the ability to decide which identity we choose to work with. We have the power and consciousness necessary to shift our reactions from the habitual to the thoughtful. We have the power and consciousness to project our thoughtfulness out onto our world. These thoughtful actions depend on our ability to remember who and what we truly are rather than whom and what we habitually think we are. It is this conscious inside/out kind of thinking that results in a change in our life experience. The change in our life experience is occurring because we are waking up; we are becoming self conscious. This self consciousness is the stuff that our spirituality is built on. The speed of centers, especially the speed of the emotional and intellectual centers is important to understand. It is important to understand that the emotional center is faster than the intellectual center. Because the emotional center is faster than the Let’s use the life experience of driving in traffic as an example of learning to control our emotions. We have all probably been involved in the experience of a traffic jam. We find ourselves stuck in heavy traffic. Our negative emotion regarding the situation begins to show itself in varying degrees of anger. The negative emotions initiated by the situation do nothing to get us to our destination any more quickly. Yet we continue to sit in our car and fuss about our situation. These negative emotions burn our energies like a wild fire. The very energies that we need to build a spiritual body are being burned by these negative emotions that have no place in our lives. It is times like these that we should allow our intellectual center to control the situation rather than allowing the emotional center to have its unprofitable way. We must remember that there is never a time when negative emotions are profitable; never! Negative emotions waste the small amount of energy we normally have available to us. If we waste this energy on negative emotions there will be none left for the process of building spirituality. Conservation of energy is an essential practice in the process of building spirituality. We must learn to save our energy for times when it can be wisely invested. Self observation/self remembering is the tool to use to cause the conservation of energy to occur. Self observation/self remembering serves also to retrain the emotional center. Over time the consistent use of self observation/self remembering will bring balance to our centers. We have the right to live life from the elevated third and fourth levels of con-sciousness. Developing elevated consciousness requires that we manage ourselves. This management requires self observation and self remembering. We must be willing to change the direction of our misguided energy. We must learn to implement right thinking. We have accomplished great technological advancements. We have greatly improved the human condition. But these technological advancements are meaningless to people who possess little happiness. These technological advancements are of little value to people who have no inner freedom. This inner freedom is the “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the There is much said about the life that exists upon our death and how we shall be rewarded or punished for our actions. Of this life after death I can say little. I can say that I know that the things that I do today most certainly make me more free or confine me more deeply into the recesses of the prison of my mind. I do know that there are those who have gone before me on this road toward inner freedom, and these individuals have left plenty of information in their wake. The information these individuals have left is meant to be used in our day to day experiences. It is designed to help us attain the things we need in order to become free. This inner freedom does not come only to our souls after our death, this inner freedom is meant for us to enjoy as we go through our lives here on earth. For us, it is simply a matter of accepting the responsibility of building spirit and then willfully investing our energy in actions that accomplish the task. This investment of energy will allow us to develop our spiritual body and experience inner freedom. There is no greater possession than inner freedom. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.” St. Matthew 13: 45-46 The ‘kingdom of heaven’ comes with a price. We must pay for our freedom by withholding the support we give to the unprofitable identifications. We must choose rather to seek the higher levels of consciousness. Self observation and self remembering are the tools that put us in touch with the higher levels of consciousness. We must learn to ask ourselves the important questions that direct us toward the ‘ “But seek ye first the |