Stillness Instruction

Introduction
 
If I had one minute to share with you what I believe is
the most valuable knowledge I have learned in life, it
would be this:
 
IF YOU WISH TO FIND LOVE, HEALTH AND
HAPPINESS IN THIS LIFETIME, YOU MUST
RECOGNIZE THE SPIRITUAL PART OF
YOURSELF. THIS SPIRITUAL PART IS YOUR
INNER SPIRIT, A SPIRIT FRAGMENT WHICH
COMES FROM GOD, THE CREATOR OF ALL.
THIS SPIRIT WITHIN IS THE SOURCE OF ALL
TRUE LOVE, HEALTH AND HAPPINESS. TO
LEARN TO LOVE YOURSELF MEANS TO
DEVELOP A A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH
THIS PART OF GOD WITHIN YOU, AND WHEN
YOU DO, YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH THIS
PART OF YOURSELF.
 
GOD IS NOT JUST SOME ABSTRACT IDEA OR
MERE SOURCE OF ENERGY OR NEBULOUS
FORM OF CONSCIOUSNESS. YOU MUST
DISCOVER THAT GOD IS, MOST IMPORTANTLY,
A LOVING PARENT WHO MORE THAN ANYTHING
ELSE, WANTS YOU - HIS BELOVED CHILD, TO
HAVE A LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM. HOW
DO YOU DO THIS? YOU BEGIN THE PRACTICE
OF THE MOST SPIRITUALLY ENLIGHTENED
HUMANS OF ALL THE WORLD, THE PRACTICE
OF DAILY COMMUNION WITH GOD, WHICH I AM
GOING TO CALL “STILLNESS. “ THIS SIMPLE
PRACTICE WILL LEAD YOU TO A FAITH
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.
 
IT HAS BEEN SAID, “SEEK AND YOU SHALL
FIND”, “SEEK FIRST THE KINGDOM OF GOD…
AND THESE THINGS SHALL BE ADDED UNTO
YOU”, "THE KINGDOM OF GOD IS WITHIN YOU".
TO FIND GOD'S KINGDOM WITHIN YOU, YOU
MUST DEVELOP A PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP
WITH GOD. WHEN YOU HAVE THIS
RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD, YOU ARE PART OF
HIS KINGDOM. WHEN YOU LIVE IN THE
KINGDOM, ALL OF THESE THINGS: LOVE,
HEALTH AND HAPPINESS WILL BE ADDED TO
YOU.
 
The rest of this book will explain what “Stillness” is
and how you can begin to practice it. If you will only
give it a chance, it will transform your inner life and
awaken yo to the loving universe that is your rightful
heritage.
 
Ask yourself these questions: Are you happy? Do
you feel loved? Do you feel like peace with God? Do
you feel deeply inside that you are beloved child of
God? Can you actually feel God’s love surround
you? Do you think of God is the one who will always
stand by you no matter what you may encounter? If
your answer is yes, then continue on your path, for
you are surely doing God’s will. But, if you feel that
you could use some additional help in your life, the
practice of Stillness will bring you the love, health
and happiness you crave.
 
Stillness it is not an end, it is a means to an end.
Stillness is a spiritual practice designed to bring you
closer to God and the feeling that God is closer to
you. It will help you deepen your personal
relationship with God and strengthen your faith-- your
living trust relationship with God. As you draw closer
to God through building this personal relationship,
you will begin to feel more loved and loving, your
overall mental and physical health will improve, and
your attitude toward life will become much happier. I
will explain why Stillness can help you achieve these
blessings.
 
There are two main tracks in the path upon which we
approach God. The first is a track of truth. It is the
attempt to understand God, to find the truth about
who God is and the nature of reality through the
intellect/mind. This is the realm of
philosophy/theology. We pursue this path by studying
the traditional texts of the world’s religions and/or the
more recent texts of the new spiritual age, by
attending discussion and study groups, and by
listening to sermons and lectures. This path is
important because it helps us to understand the
nature of God, the nature of humankind, our
relationship to God, who we are, why we are here
and what our destiny is. This is the track of most of
us have primarily followed and we should continue
this effort to find the truest understanding of God and
reality that we can.
 
However, there is another track in the path upon
which we approach God. This is the path of love –
loving God, ourselves and others. It is a way of
sensing/feeling God's presence and love. Just as it is
important to know "about” God, it is just as important
to know “of” God – to feel God’s presence and love.
We cannot do this by reading books, listening to
sermons and attending lectures. To feel loved and
loving, we must experience a personal relationship
with God. How do we do this? For the most part, it is
the same process is building a relationship with
another human.
 
If you wanted to get to know another person, what
would you do? First, you would have to arrange to
spend some time alone together. Through sharing
one's life's experiences and communicating, you
would get to know this individual. As you build a
relationship with him or her, as you begin to
understand the motivations, hopes and dreams of
another, you will gradually begin to feel love for him
or her. You would also begin to feel love being
reciprocated.
 
This is also how you build a personal relationship
with God. If humans can love and be loved through
this personal aspect of their natures, then surely
God, the creator of all of us, has the same personal
nature. If you perceive God only as a light or energy,
you will naturally find it difficult to have a personal
relationship. You cannot really love and feel loved by
an abstract concept of light or energy. Consequently,
you need to find a way to think of God in a personal
way, such as being a loving parent, your closest
friend, your wisest mentor.
 
To build this relationship, it is important to set aside
some time each day to spend with God just as if you
were trying to become acquainted with another
human. There are many ways you can talk with and
to God. There is no one correct way. You could pray
to God. You might want to offer thanks for all the
blessings in your life. If you’re having a problem, you
could ask for guidance and insight. Then, after you
have finished talking, just listen… listen in silence to
the still voice of God within you. This process is what
stillness is. It is a spiritual practice whereby you set
aside some time each day to spend with God and
communicate together. This is how you build a
personal relationship with God.
 
By practicing Stillness, you will feel the presence of
God. You will feel love for and feel loved by God.
Feeling this love will bring you the deep peace,
happiness, joy and love you have been longing for.
God is the true source of love. If you only seek love
through human associations, through human
relationships, a sense of complete love will seem
elusive because you have ignored the love of this
spiritual reality which is a part of you. Moreover,
humans cannot always give you the deep love you
desire because humans are in perfect. This satisfying
feeling of ideal love can only be bestowed by God,
who is perfect.
 
Stillness this produces the same of effects that are
commonly associated with the practice of
relaxation/meditation techniques. Typically, these
have been identified as increased energy, lower
stress levels and overall feelings of well-being. These
benefits are very worthwhile and desirable. However,
Stillness is also takes you beyond the serenity of the
still the body and mind to actually feel God's
unconditional love for you. Stillness creates the inner
awareness in you that the Spirit of God indwells you.
Once your body and mind are still, you raise your
conscious awareness of God through dialogue,
prayer, worship and silent listening to a place where
you feel at one with God. This relationship building
time with God is the spirit’s opportunity to act as your
pilot to lead you to Him. When you are with God, you
avail yourself of all the goodness, compassion,
understanding, forgiveness, mercy, tenderness,
wisdom, truth and beauty that God is. When you
return to normal consciousness, you bring a little
more of these gifts with you each time.
 
I believe it is helpful to approach God along both
tracks, truth and love. Continue to study and learn
about the nature of God and reality. At the same
time, build his personal relationship with God so that
you will not just intellectually know that you are child
of God, but you will actually feel the love of God in
your life. The more you feel, the more peaceful and
happy you will be. The more love you feel, the easier
it will be to be loved by and be loving towards others.
Rather than just telling someone God loves them,
you want to be able to show them how to feel God’s
love and how God's love feels. This practice of
Stillness can help you do this. When others see that
you feel loved and loving toward them, they will want
to know how to find this love for themselves. When
others see God’s love shine through you, they will
know what you say about God’s love is not just mere
words.
 
Do not analyze or pass judgment on what you will
read until you finish. Then still your mind and ask the
Spirit of God within you for guidance.
Chapter One: Two Tracks
 
“Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalms 46:10).
These words have been spoken many times through
the ages. They contain the greatest secret to
answering life’s questions, and yet they have been
understood and taught by very few. Our world is filled
with many religions, philosophies, books and
teachers all claiming to have the “truth”. Most have
good intentions, but they miss the most important
truth, which is that each person needs to develop a
personal relationship with God.
 
They teach concepts about God - theology, as if
knowledge of their belief system is all that you need.
They teach rituals and rules as if performing certain
prescribed actions reciting formalized prayers is
sufficient. They teach if you attend a church,
synagogue, mosque or temple regularly and follow
their prescribed rules, you will be assured of a place
in the afterlife or next life. This is one track on the
path to God. It is a track of the intellect/mind.
Unfortunately, most of us have only experienced this
one track because it has been the primary track
which most philosophical/religious traditions have
taught.
 
However, the most spiritually enlightened individuals
of our world had an understanding of the importance
of another track. It is the track of the heart/soul, the
search for the love of God. They knew the value of
time spent in communion with God. I am going to
redefine this time of communion with God and call it
“Stillness.” Perhaps these more enlightened spiritual
teachers were unable to convey the importance of
this daily practice to their brethren. As a result, the
teaching of theology, rules and rituals became a
substitution for a personal relationship with God.  To
be fair, one could say that teaching about the inner
presence of God, about a personal relationship with
God is not easy because it is something each
individual experiences uniquely. But, surely, to allow
each individual to develop their own personal
religious experience and find God within should have
been the highest priority. Why was it not done? Why
is it still not done?
 
There could be many reasons. Some would say
those who are religious leaders do not wish people to
understand the second track. They wish their
followers to come to them for answers. In this way,
they retain a certain level of control over them. I do
not think it necessary to be so cynical, though, as
with most things, there is probably some grain of
truth in this. I would rather think they have simply
forgotten that this track is just as important.
Consequently, the beliefs, rituals and rules became
the primary track because they are more easily
understood, taught and practiced. Moreover, to teach
a practice of a relationship, a communion, with God,
you must practice this yourself. History has taught us
that not all of the world’s religious leaders have been
very spiritual themselves.
 
No one can be a source of all truth and always know
what is right. Therefore, each individual should be
given the freedom and encouraged to follow their
own inner guidance. This is not always the easiest
path, but it is the only path that will lead to true and
enduring faith versus a mere system of belief. So,
perhaps it is best to conclude that because the
theology, rituals and rules are easier to understand
and follow, the leaders of the different religions
simply focused upon the path of least resistance, or
in this case, the path of least enlightenment.
 
Now is the time when this must change! There is a
great need for personal knowledge and relationship
with God among all the people on this planet. Who
will help them with this? Will they have to find it on
their own, outside the world's religions and New Age
philosophies? How will they begin? Who will be their
guide? This book is an attempt to help those who
wish to begin this path to seek a firsthand experience
of God. It does not provide all the answers; no book
could possibly do that. My hope is that it will give you
the understanding and insight to realize a personal
relationship with God is the missing track. The
practice of Stillness will give you the basic steps and
conceptual framework you need to begin to
experience this track.
 
You must ask yourself these questions. Has your life
produced happiness? Has your life produced inner
peace? Has your life produced health and well-
being? Have all of the things that have been
portrayed to you by your culture as producing health
and happiness proven to be true? Has the pursuit of
money and material goods produced complete
happiness for you? If so, and you seem to be content
with these things, then this book will not offer
anything to you. But if you say yes to those questions
now, there will come a time in your life when you
realize these things are not the complete answer.
Then you will be ready to begin this path. This is not
to say that there’s anything wrong with the enjoyment
of physical/material reality, but it is to say that this
level of reality is only a part of total reality. Until you
taste of the experience of the spiritual as well, you
will always feel an inner emptiness, a sense of being
incomplete, a puzzlement that whispers “is that all
there is?”
 
All life can be understood as existing on three levels
of reality, the spiritual, the material/physical, and the
mindal. We know much of the material/physical and
some of the mindal, but for the most part we know
very little of the spiritual. Our attempts to understand
the spiritual have mostly been limited to the mental
level, and this is what I referred to before as the
theologies, rituals and rules the world’s religions
have offered. They give a simple formula, that is:
“follow our rules, believe as we say and you will have
a spiritual life; you will have a spiritual salvation or
enlightenment.” However, the mere memorization
and assent to believe in a set of doctrines, the mere
practice of certain rituals or adherence to rules is not
a true spiritual life. You must awaken to your spiritual
dimension, for in truth, it is a part of you. Each of you
has a spiritual component, an element of spiritual
reality which is a fragment of God, the creator and
source of all reality, which exists within you. This
fragment of God is your pilot, your Father, Mother,
friend, counselor, and guide. This is the spiritual
component of you that will bring you eternal destiny.
Until you recognize and develop a relationship with
this spiritual part of you, you will not find the true
love, health and happiness you seek because you
are not functioning on all three levels of reality.
 
To have a first-hand experience with God, to develop
a true and guiding faith which will be a real part of
yourself, you must begin to develop a personal
relationship with the spiritual component that exists
within you. There is nothing to fear, for the God
within holds all of the wisdom, love, goodness, truth
and beauty you could ever imagine. It is already
there for you. You must simply say to yourself that
you are ready to begin the search. Life is filled with
difficulties. To begin such a search will not make
difficulties in life go away. In fact, it is often through
these difficulties we actually learn and come to
understand life. It is even through these difficulties
we are sometimes initially motivated to turn to a
spiritual reality, to seek God’s comfort and guidance.
But if you begin this journey, if you develop this
relationship with God, you will find your journey
through life will become much easier. You will find
you are not delivered from the waters of adversity,
but there is a great loving being who will go with you
through them. Life’s difficulties will now seem more
like a new lesson to be learned than an
overwhelming obstacle.
 
God will become more than just a concept. You will
feel His presence, you will feel His love, you will
gradually develop more insight and understanding
into your life, into your self. This inner spirit, this inner
fragment of God will gradually and lovingly guide you
through this life and through your eternal destiny.
You must be willing to trust in this inner guidance. If
you are afraid because your religion does not teach
this path, then your fear may prevent you from
beginning this journey. But, there's really nothing to
fear. After all, could any religion teach that you
should not pursue a more for filling relationship with
God? Is this not with the highest teaching should be?
So if they do not teach this, then how is it that they
are fulfilling their true purpose?
 
I am not suggesting you abandon your beliefs or
religion, but that you add this other track of building a
personal relationship with God to your religious
experience. Whatever belief system you choose is
your decision, but learning to trust God's inner
guidance through His spirit fragment that indwells
you will make your search for love, health and
happiness more successful. If you are unsure, take
some time, find a quiet place with no interruptions.
Relax your body and mind, let the thoughts of the
day pass away until your mind becomes stilled. In
this still moment ask God, the God fragment within
you, if this is true, if He is there, if He will guide you
through life, if He will help you experience more of
the love, truth, beauty and goodness existing in this
universe which is your rightful heritage. Do this and
you will have your answer as to whether or not you
should pursue this track as well.
Chapter Two: Getting Started
 
What is the stillness? Is it a state of being? Is it a
practice? Is it a process? Is it prayer, worship,
contemplation or meditation? Is it love of God? Is it
faith in God? Is it a relationship with God? The
answer is yes. It is all these things and more. As we
proceed, you will learn what Stillness is, how you can
find it on the physical, mental and spiritual levels of
reality, how you can learn to practice it, what you can
expect from it, and how it will help you live a life in a
more happy, loving and healthy way. The term
Stillness is more useful than meditation,
contemplation or other similar practices because
Stillness includes the recognition and development of
a personal relationship with God. This concept and
focus is not necessarily included in these other
practices. Also, a new term opens your mind to
expand upon a concept rather than narrowing it
based on preconceived definitions and connotations.
 
Let us begin with some basic understandings you
should have as you begin to develop your personal
relationship with God through your practice of
Stillness. First and foremost, you should understand
that there is a divine being, the First Source and
Center of all things, a loving universal God who is the
creator and upholder of all existence. Second, you
should understand that God has created us to share
in His loving universe. He has created us as His
children. He wishes us to love Him as a child loves
his parents just as He, as a parent, loves each of us,
as His child. Third, God has created a vast universe
there are many spiritual beings other than humans
who exist in this universe. You can call them angels,
guides or whatever names you wish, but they are
created by God to watch over us and to help us in
our spiritual journey. Fourth, God has given a part of
Himself, the Spirit Fragment, to indwell each human
being.
This Spirit Fragment within each of us has been
talked about by almost all of the known religions of
our world. It has been given different names by these
religions, but is most commonly referred to as the
Indwelling Spirit, the Light Within, the Divine Spark,
the Enlightened Self, and a Higher Self.
 
The spirit fragment is a distinct spiritual reality whose
existence is currently separate from your being but
whose destiny is to become one with you. It is more
than just a thought, an energy manifestation or state
of consciousness. It is a real, spiritual entity. This
Spirit Fragment is how God stays in touch with us
and knows each of our lives, each of the lives of all of
the beings He has created. God has given a
fragment of Himself to indwell each human being. In
this way, he is always there with each of us. He
knows all of our thoughts, all of our struggles, all of
our joys, all of our sorrows, and all of our yearnings.
No one could possibly understand us more than God.
No one knows how to guide us better and to help us
solve our problems better than God.
 
Why then, do we usually turn to other humans who
are, for the most part, just as troubled and confused
as we are, to solve our problems? Why do we only
use the limited human understanding we have
developed in our short earth lifespan to try to solve
our problems? No wonder we do not get good
answers! We are the blind leading the blind. We are
little children trying to help other little children. This is
not to say we should not seek help from others, or
that we should not try to understand and use the
intellect we have been given. Rather, it is to suggest
we have access to a true, divine, loving and wise
spirit within us. But, because we fail to recognize this
spiritual dimension, because we fail to turn to this
loving God within for guidance, we deprive ourselves
of the greatest source of love and understanding that
is imaginable.
 
Why do we do this? Primarily it is because we are
not taught that such a spirit of God exists within us.
We are not taught how to develop a relationship with
this inner guide, this inner fragment of God. As a
result, God must often wait until we experience
physical death and move on in our ascension career
to be in a more personal relationship with us. But this
needs not be so. Why should we deprive ourselves
of this loving guidance when He is there within us,
longing for us to make contact with Him, to develop a
personal relationship with Him? And this is what we
are really talking about: a personal relationship. God
is not some abstract light. Nor is He merely an
energy manifestation or state of consciousness. “He
who created the ear, can he not hear? “ He who gave
us our personhood, our personality, our ability to
relate to one another in a loving and personal way,
does He then not have this same personhood and is
this ability to lovingly relate to us? Of course He
does! You must begin to see God in this personal
away because you cannot love and feel loved by a
light energy or state of consciousness. In this
discussion, God is called the Universal Father. This
is not because He is a father in the human sense, or
because father in any sense is better than mother.
God is much more than just a parent, father or
mother. But, for us to have a relationship with God,
we need to understand that God also has personality
because we cannot have personal relationships with
things that are not personal. So, you must begin to
see God as a loving parent who has created a loving
universe because the parent/child relationship is the
closest personal relationship we have to understand
our relationship to God. Despite all the problems we
see on this world, despite the imperfections of our
human parents, God’s universe is dominated by love,
truth, beauty and goodness. The problems we see on
our world are created by our own free will, our lack of
understanding of the true nature of God, the universe
and ourselves. If it were not for the gift of free will, we
would not truly be self-conscious beings who can
choose to love God. As a parent, don’t you want your
children to love you because of who you are and the
love and nurturing you had given them? Similarly,
God wants us to freely choose to love Him not
because we fear Him, but because He is so loving
and good.
 
As you begin to develop your personal relationship
with God, you will begin to feel more loved and
loving. You will notice you feel more compassion for
others and have a greater desire to help them. You
will begin to choose what is right over what is wrong
because it feels good and gives you happiness
rather than because you were afraid of being
punished by an angry God. You will feel you are
happier and more in harmony with life. While some
physical ailments may still be present due to
genetics, accidents, prior poor health habits and the
natural aging process, you will begin to notice an
overall healthfulness, including a different attitude
toward your physical problems. And so, how is it that
you go about developing a relationship with God? If
you met someone you seemed to like and you
decided you wanted to get to know them better, what
would you do? Well, the first thing you would have to
do is begin to spend some time with them. Whether
you talked with them on the phone or met with then
personally, you would have to begin a process of
getting to know them. You would have to make a
commitment to devote time and energy to this
process of getting to know this other person. It is the
same if you wish to begin this journey of knowing
God. The practice of Stillness is your key to open this
door. It will become your method of developing a
relationship with God because what you are doing is
setting aside a certain amount of time each day to
get to know Him better.
 
 
If you truly wish to have greater love, health and
happiness in your life, the development of a personal
relationship with God is the surest way to find these
things. There really is no other way. There is no
shortcut because developing a relationship with God
takes time just as developing a relationship with
another person takes time. But if you’re willing to
begin this partnership, the rewards are continuing
and limitless. Day by day, you will find your love for
your self and others, your hunger for truth, your
appreciation of beauty and goodness, and your
desire to help others will increase. You will begin to
understand not only yourself but also Life itself
better. Sometimes, in a moment of inspiration, the
answer to a problem will suddenly emerge into your
mind. Or, you may be talking to someone and they
will suddenly say something which is the answer you
have been searching for. You may find a book, a
teacher or a religious/philosophical group you feel
you can bring you greater enlightenment. God does
not speak loud words into our ears. You must
understand this. 
 
The relationship you will begin to develop is subtle,
but that does not mean it is not real. You will not hear
a loud voice, but you will begin to feel God's
presence and guidance. You will "hear "God's words,
but they will come from the experiences and the
people around you, from an inspiration within your
own mind, and mostly from a subtle spiritual
intuition/insight gradually emerging and growing
within. This is the God Fragment within you
expanding your understanding and awareness of
what is true and what is real. As you grow in this
relationship with God, the possibility for more direct
communication does exist, but we leave this for later
discussions. In addition to opening your mind to the
conceptual framework you have just been given, you
must now take the most important step. This step
is a commitment to spend some time alone with
god each day in order to develop this personal
relationship. Again, I would emphasize you cannot
develop a relationship with someone if you are not
willing to spend time to get to know them. Twenty to
thirty minutes a day is a minimum. Thirty minutes to
an hour is best. One session is adequate, two
sessions a day is ideal. Life can be very hectic and
complex, but if you know there is something you
really want to do, you find a way to make time for it.
And so it is your choice. No one will force you, even
God does not for sure. But, if you truly want the love,
happiness and health you say you do, then
committing twenty minutes to an hour a day seems
like a small price, doesn’t it? Good things in life come
with effort and you must spend some spiritual energy
just as you spend physical and mental energy.
 
There is only one way for you to know if what I am
saying is true, and that is to try it. You can theorize
and theologize endlessly, but feeling the presence of
God, love, happiness and improved health will only
come with the experience of having a personal
relationship with God. You can achieve this by
practicing the Stillness.
Chapter Three: Physical Stillness
 
If you were trying to develop a relationship with
someone special, would you invite them over when
you were in the middle of doing something else, with
the TV on, the radio blaring, and the children
clamoring for attention? Of course not! You would
find a babysitter, you would turn off the TV and radio,
and you would find some time to talk with this person
without interruption. Similarly, this is what you must
do to begin to develop your relationship with God.
You must find a place and time to be physically
still. Still means you are removed from all
interruptions such as telephones, noise, other
family members and whatever other distractions
there can be in life. You may have to work at
scheduling this!
 
When can you do it? Will it be the first thing in the
morning, when you come home from work, after
dinner, or the last thing before you go to bed at
night? You know yourself, you know your daily
schedule. You must decide when you can do this. A
minimum of 20-30 minutes a day is necessary. If you
can spend more than 30 minutes or as much as one
hour, and especially and if you can practice twice a
day, the results will be even better. The most
important thing, however, even if it is only for 20-30
minutes, is to begin. Find a place and time where you
can be quiet, when you can be still without
interruption in order to begin to develop your
relationship with God. You should have learned to
set aside some time each day for your own personal
development. The Stillness is the most worthwhile
practice to help you grow and stay healthy so that
you will ever find.
 
When you have found this place and time, the next
thing you must learn to do is to relax yourself
physically. There are many schools of thought about
meditative and relaxation techniques. They may
teach you to sit in certain positions, breathe in
prescribed ways, ask you to attach some scientific
equipment to yourself that will measure your brain
waves, or suggest other practices to aid you. If you
have experience or wish to seek experience with one
of these, this is fine, but it is not necessary. All you
really need to know is quite simple. First, you need to
find a relaxing place to sit. I do suggest sitting rather
than lying down because the tendency when you lie
down, especially if you are tired, is to drift off into
sleep or an unconscious state of mind. While you
want to become very relaxed, you also want to
maintain your mental alertness. So, it is preferable if
you find a place, a very comfortable place, to sit.
However, if you prefer lying down, then by all means
do so. You must experiment with what works best for
you.
 
Do not cross your legs.  Do not do anything that
will put your body or any parts of your body in a
tense position. It is best if you do not slouch and
keep your spine straight. You do not want to
experience discomfort; you do not want to
experience any pain. You want to be totally
relaxed. You want all the muscles of your body to
be tension free and you should take some time to
see that this is the case. Begin by taking deep
breaths and releasing them very slowly. Check
for any tension by focusing on your feet, then
move up through your ankles, your legs, your
hips, your arms, your upper body and your neck.
Move or stretch any of these if you need to but be
sure that you are not in a tense position, because
if you are, this tension will gradually cause you
pain or discomfort which can be distracting to
your time with the Father.
 
This is really all there is to it. There are no special
techniques required, but if you find something is
helpful for you, then use it. It is not necessary to be
uncomfortable. In fact, it is more necessary to be
quite comfortable. Start by thinking about when you
can find time to begin this relationship with God. Will
there be place that is the best? When will be the best
time? You may need to talk with spouses, children or
roommates to let them know you expect them to put
their needs on hold for this brief time each day.
Encourage your family members or companions to
try it and be open about what you were doing. When
others see you take time from a busy schedule to do
this, they realize it must be important to you. You are
setting a good example for them. In time, you will
come to realize there's nothing more valuable you
could give them then the encouragement and
guidance to begin this practice themselves. There
are many books about meditation and relaxation that
extol the benefits of taking time for this physical
relaxation of the body. There is a great deal of
medical/psychological literature that show how taking
this quiet time can contribute to your overall health. It
relieves stress, lowers blood pressure, and allows
the body to restore its energy. Overall, it is a very
revitalizing and helpful practice. So, one of the first
benefits of this practice of Stillness, this attempt to
develop a personal relationship with God, to spend
time with God each day, is a physical one. You will
improve your health greatly by taking this time to be
relaxed, to let yourself become less stressed, to be
revitalized. If you do it for no other reason than to
improve your health, you will not be disappointed. In
a later chapter on health, I will explain this more fully.
Chapter Four: Mental Stillness
 
For those who have made any attempt at
contemplation, meditation, or have gone on retreats,
the biggest problem that most people encounter is to
try to still their mind. Our minds are naturally
active. Various thoughts are constantly occurring
reacting either to the immediate stimuli we are
surrounded by or reflecting upon prior
experiences, thoughts, and emotions which are
being held in our conscious and unconscious
mind. Sometimes we just drift into what we call
daydreaming and other times we may be actively
trying to solve problems. Whatever it might be,
each of us finds that our mind is almost always in
an active state. So, how do we still this mental
activity?
 
Learning to develop this relationship with God is in
many ways no different than developing a
relationship with another human. For example, when
you want to get to know someone, what is it that you
do? You talk to them, you ask them questions and
then you listen for their answer. When you listen for
their answer, you have quieted or stilled your mind so
that you can hear and focus upon what they are
saying. If while someone is talking and your mind is
preparing an answer to something they have said or
developing a new question, then you are not really
listening because your mind is active. You are, for
the most part, blocking out what the other person is
saying. Learn to just listen. When you attempt to
begin to still your mind, a way to think about all
these random thoughts that rush in as if other
people trying to talk to you and distract you, but
you don't want them to. You want them to be still,
to be quiet, so that you can listen, spend time,
and focus and concentrate upon God with whom
you are now trying to develop a relationship. The
thoughts will still come. Simply do not stop and
focus upon them. Let them come and go. If you
stop and focus upon them, then you are breaking
your concentration with God. You are spending
time in effect, with yourself, with your own
thoughts. Do not fight them, learn to let them go.
Simply do not focus on them. Tell them you will get
back to them later and discuss (or actually think
about) whatever they want, but for now they need to
leave you alone because you are with someone and
you do not wish to be disturbed.
 
There are different techniques that might be helpful
in this process. Some have taught people to
associate breathing with a still mind. As random
thoughts enter the mind, by refocusing on the
breathing, you bring yourself back to the original
focus of a stilled mind. In this refocusing, these other
thoughts are released.
 
Another technique is to repeat a special word or
phrase. Through the repetition of this word or phrase,
you are able to block out other thoughts that rush into
your mind because you are focused on the word or
phrase. If you begin the Stillness and these thoughts
come back, repeat the word or phrase and/or refocus
on your breathing, and you will again return your
attention to the Father.
 
Another helpful technique is to listen to music. You
do not want to listen to music with lyrics because you
will find your mind focusing on the words. You want
to choose music that is very relaxing, very melodious
and uplifting to you. The music that works best for
one person may not be the same for another. You
must find music which relaxes you, seems to be
pleasing to your inner self, and is in harmony with
your own inner vibrational level. The purpose is to
uplift you, to make you feel more serene, lighter and
joyful. I know this statement will seem puzzling, but in
time you will realize that you are not focusing upon
the music, but the music is focusing you.
 
If you are a visual person, picture in your mind where
you would like most to be. Imagine the most
beautiful, serene and loving situation possible. In this
picture, you are happy, full of love, free from worry
and anxiety, and God is there with you. There is no
one else around to disturb you.
 
Where are you? On the ocean, a lake or a river? On
a mountaintop, in a beautiful meadow or valley, or
strolling through the woods? Again, this is your
“fantasy land”. It will not be the same image as
others might have. What is important is that it works
for you. None of these techniques are necessary, but
they can be quite helpful. As you are embarking on a
new experience, you will want to try different
techniques to see what works best for you.
 
None of these techniques are necessary but they can
be helpful. You are embarking on a new experience,
you will want to try different techniques to see what
works best for you. I have found all these techniques
to be helpful, but my primary method for refocusing is
to repeat the phrase, “Be still and know that I am
God.” I interpret this phrase as a statement from the
Father when He is trying to regain my attention
because I have drifted off into my own thoughts and
lost my focus on His presence within me.
 
Do not feel bad. Do not feel guilty when you struggle
with the stillness of the mind. It takes practice to
develop to the point where you can more easily still
your mind and not be distracted by all of these
thoughts that rush into it.
 
If you were beginning to learn a musical instrument,
you would find that the progress was quite slow.
Each day you would devote a certain time to
practicing. After a while you would easily find the
temptation to do something else, to cut your practice
short, or to rationalize that what you were trying to
learn will take too long or is too difficult, will enter
your mind. If you want to master an instrument or
anything else, it will take time, many hours of
practice. This is also true of mastering the Stillness.
Developing a relationship with God takes time just as
developing a relationship with a human takes time.
You will not fully understand a person the first time
you meet them. You will need to experience many
things together. Sometimes you will feel as though
you have made great strides in your understanding.
Other times will feel that your time spent together has
not accomplished much. This is simply part of the
learning process, part of the development of the
relationship. What is most important is that you do
not lose sight of your goal, and that you do not give
up because you think you are not making progress or
that your progress is too slow.
 
I will say again in your Stillness you are not normally
going to hear a loud and distinct voice of God telling
you exactly what to do and how to handle every
situation. We all wish it were that easy, but it is not. If
you wish to feel God’s love, if you wish a greater
feeling of love for yourself and others, along with a
greater feeling of inner happiness and peace, this is
the practice you must continue. Just as with learning
a musical instrument, many people want to do it, but
when they meet with the least bit of difficulty, they
tend to give it up. Do not give up, my friend. Do not
turn away from this opportunity so easily. You will
find this relationship to be the most rewarding
relationship you can ever have. You simply must give
it time to develop.
 
Do not be afraid of this time spent with God or of
any of the thoughts that come rushing through
your mind. Sometimes our own apprehensions,
our own fears can well up into our minds. We
think we see or hear everything from monsters to
demons to our own most troubling past
experiences. Do not be concerned with these. Do
not give them energy. Again, simply let them
pass from your mind. By raising your
consciousness toward the Father rather than
letting your mind aimlessly wander into your
unconscious, you will prevent such imaginary
fears. If they come into your mind, you know it is
time to refocus on the Father’s presence.
 
You will find in time one of the many benefits of this
relationship with God is that you will begin to see
yourself more clearly. Your immaturities, your faults,
and troubling past experiences will sometimes come
to mind, not only in the time of the Stillness, but at
other reflective moments. Instead of being afraid of
these, allow them to surface and see them in the light
and protection of God’s presence and love. They will
lose their power and control over you. You will begin
to understand that there is no reason to fear them.
This growing self-awareness, growing self-mastery is
very psychologically and emotionally therapeutic.
This inner healing will be one of the many blessings
you will receive from God as a result of your desire to
get to know Him better.
 
Now that you have quieted your mind, what is next?
Well, if you were with some other human and you
wanted to develop this relationship, wouldn’t you talk
to them? Of course, and now is the time when you
can begin to talk with God. It is not easy at first
because God is not directly answering you back. But
for now this is not important. What is important is that
you are telling God that you want to include Him in
your life. Share your innermost thoughts, dreams and
feelings with God. He is the best listener you will ever
find. While you are having this dialog, you should
picture yourself in the presence of God.
 
You can picture yourself with God in many different
ways. One of the most helpful ways is to see your
self as a very young child, (for in truth it is what each
of us really is) coming before this all–wise, all-loving,
most gentle, most kind, father or mother. Tell Him
your troubles, fears, hopes, and dreams. God
already knows these things. It is not as if you are
telling Him something new. What you are doing is
actually making yourself more aware of your own
thoughts and feelings. Wise therapists know the best
therapy is mostly involved with listening to someone
in an atmosphere of acceptance and trust and
allowing them with some guidance to find their own
answers. We have the insights and answers within
us, but we need someone to listen, understand and
help us recognize the right solutions. Why not let the
Father become your personal therapist? Not only is
He the best but also He is the least expensive!
 
You can ask God for things for yourself and others
during your dialogue with Him. This is what is
commonly known as prayer. But you must learn that
God is not so concerned with your material
circumstances as He is with your spiritual well-being.
Praying for physical or material things is a typical
reaction as we try to learn, grow and expand
ourselves spiritually. Our first tendency is to interpret
the spiritual level by reducing it to the material level
where we have more understanding and experience.
Consequently, we ask for better jobs, to win the
Lotto, to meet a handsome prince or a beautiful
princess.
 
Trying to see beyond the material level. Rather than
asking God to materialize these things in your life,
ask God why it is that you seem to feel a need for
them. Ask God to help you adjust your thinking to
understand how you can make your life better even
though you do not have these things. Ask Him if
these material things are really so important, or if
there are other realizations that are of greater value.
If you are having a particular problem or if there is
something you do not understand about your life, ask
God to give you some insight, to help you
understand. When you ask God for guidance,
understanding, wisdom, love, or peace, you know in
time your prayer will be answered. Ask God who He
is and how you can feel His love more. Ask how you
can learn to benefit from His presence and guidance.
Ask Him how you can learn to see Him in your
brothers and sisters. By brothers and sisters, I mean
all humans, for if God is our Heavenly Father, then
truly we are all spiritual brothers and sisters. If there
is someone you know who is having a problem, this
is also the time you can pray for them by asking God
to help them find the answers they need.
 
When you have finished talking with God, stop and
listen. Quiet your mind, ask God to let you feel His
presence so you can feel His love. Ask Him to give
you guidance and then listen in your mind for His
answer. Next, begin to reflect on what is good in your
life, the goodness of life itself, the love you have felt
from or for other, the truth you have found, the
beauty you have seen. As you reflect on these
things, realize that God is your creator. Despite the
difficulties in your life now, you are destined to live
eternally in a universe filled with all of these good
things. Realize the material struggles of your earthly
existence will not last forever. Let yourself see a
larger, more panoramic view beyond this troubled
world where people truly do love and help each
other, where there is great beauty, truth and
goodness. These divine values exist here on this
world, but you must learn to focus on them more. As
you do, you will begin to see them in the people and
situations where you did not see them before. Thank
God for this. Do not ask Him for anything more now,
but simply thank Him, love Him and praise Him for all
the good in life.
 
You know a good parent does much for his or her
children. Do you not greatly enjoy those few
moments when your children run up to you and give
you a hug or say thank you for the things you have
done for them? The same is true of our Heavenly
Father. Rather than ignore Him and go on about your
life living in the material, physical level of
consciousness all the time, give our Father great joy
by saying you want to develop this relationship with
Him, by thanking Him for the love and joy which has
been a part of your life. How would you feel as a
parent if your child was too busy doing other things
and seemed to always ignore you? While God knows
that in time this will change, the sooner you change it
the happier you will be and the more you will please
our Father.
 
Now that you have stilled your body and mind,
spent some time talking and praying to the
Father, elevate your consciousness to a state of
thankfulness. Allow this thankfulness to elevate
to praise. This state of thankfulness and praise is
called worship. As you begin to worship, you
have now moved to the next level of Stillness, the
spiritual level.
Chapter Five: Spiritual Stillness
 
Many religions and philosophical schools of thought
have taught the benefits of the practices of
meditation, contemplation and solitude. Many
medical/psychological practitioners have taught and
even to some degree scientifically have shown the
benefits of physical and mental relaxation such as
decreased levels of stress and higher levels of
energy. While these practices are certainly helpful
and healthful as we have already discussed in the
previous two chapters, you need to grow beyond the
physical and mental levels to the spiritual level of
reality. You need to feel God’s love as well as know
about it. You need living faith as well as intellectual
belief.
 
The reason these practices are not complete is that
they do not usually have this understanding of a
personal relationship with God. God is a personal
being as well as the creator and upholder of all
reality. He is someone who can love and be loved,
someone who can listen and give counsel, someone
who can share our joys and our sorrows. Instead,
God is often portrayed as a heightened state of
cosmic consciousness, a state of blissful serenity, or
a wrathful judge who lives in some faraway place
who is unapproachable and should be feared. None
of these portrayals is accurate. Until God is
understood as the loving parent He truly is,
religious/philosophical institutions and movements
will continue to be unable to help you develop a
personal relationship with God that will bring you the
love, happiness and health you seek and deserve.
You may feel peaceful or serene in a state of
consciousness at the physical or mental level, but
you will only feel true love from another being,
human or divine. Divine love is only found at the
spiritual level of reality.
 
As you move from the mental level of dialogue/prayer
with God to the spiritual level of thankfulness and
praise, what you are doing is worshiping. Worship
signals your arrival at the spiritual level of Stillness.
Worship is different than prayer, for it asks nothing in
return. It simply is a state of thankfulness and praise
for life and for all of the love, truth, goodness, and
beauty that life has brought. In this state of
thankfulness, of worship, you will feel loving towards
the Father, and in turn will feel more of the Father’s
love for you. This, my friend, is what will begin to
change your life.You have heard the words that the
greatest love of all is to learn to love yourself. If you
understand this to mean to learn to love the beauty
and goodness of the God within you, to love your
indwelling spirit, your eternal self, then you have
discerned the highest meaning of these words. You
and the fragment of God within are forming an
eternal partnership. The spirit within you gives you
communication with God and the potential for eternal
life. You give this fragment of God a personality
expression unique in all the far-flung universe who
can be loved by God and who can love God in return.
You are truly a beloved child of a loving parent. To
help you feel more loved and loving while you are in
the spiritual Stillness, you may need to adjust some
of your perceptions about what it means to love
yourself and others.
 
The one who will truly love and guide you the most is
your Heavenly Father. This should be the primary
relationship in your life. This is where you will feel the
most love in your life. As you begin to grow in this
feeling of being loved, you will find it much easier to
love others. You will begin to see them in new ways.
You will see them and yourself just as you see little
children on a playground. They play, they share, they
fight over toys, they get their feelings hurt. We like to
think because we are now in older bodies and have
supposedly "grown-up" we are beyond this. In reality,
from a universal or cosmic point of view, we are not
so much different from these young children. Most
people still live much of their lives filled with many
unsettling emotions, fears, apprehensions, petty
jealousies, resentments, and many other negative
emotions and attitudes. None of us were raised by
perfect parents. None of us were raised to see each
other in a light of love, kindness, and goodness from
our earliest years. Therefore, do not be too hard on
yourself or on other people. Simply realize that there
are areas of behavior in our lives in which we are still
immature. Perhaps they did not learn to be more
responsible. Perhaps they did not learn to look at
themselves instead of always blaming others for all
their problems. Perhaps they did not learn better
ways to show their feelings. Perhaps they did not
learn more constructive ways to deal with anger or
frustration.
 
Begin to realize within every other person there is a
fragment of God, just as there is in you. Picture them
when they were first born or as very young children.
You will see their bright and beautiful eyes full of
hope for the future. They still have this potential
within them. It is just that years of struggle and living
in the darkness, not knowing how to break out of it
and perhaps to some extent, not willing to break out
of it, have masked the divine goodness still lying
within them. If they truly knew God’s love for them, if
they truly felt God’s love within them, if they truly felt
love for others, and sought the truth and goodness in
their lives, they would not act in such ways. Just as
you are not harsh on your young child when he or
she acts in negative ways, do not be so harsh on
yourself and your other brothers and sisters. We are
all still young universe children, just living in older
bodies.
 
Learn to love the sinner, but hate the sin. This means
to separate the person from their actions. In this way,
you can still know their negative actions are not
correct and must be dealt with. But you will not see
them as corrupt or evil. Instead, you will see them as
someone who has not found love in their life, been
guided properly and has not learned better ways of
reacting to the world and to you. Feel righteous
indignation toward their actions but feel compassion
for their souls. This is the type of inner adjustment
God will help you make as a result of your
relationship with Him. Eventually, you will see your
"enemies" as struggling little children like yourself.
When you begin to understand this, you will turn hate
into compassion and compassion will turn into love.
This is the process and meaning of learning to love
your enemies as yourself. This is the change in
perception you need to begin to allow the feelings of
love to flow through you more easily.
 
As you spend time in this spiritual Stillness, you can
use visualizations, words of praise, or you can simply
rest in the total and loving embrace of the Father's
love. Picture yourself being hugged by the Father.
Picture yourself in a meadow where there are people
who are happy and singing, where the sun is warm
and there are beautiful mountains and flowers
surrounding you. Whatever brings you great peace
and joy and allows you to see the love and beauty of
this world, utilize that image. As you do this and as
you associate the feeling of the Father’s love with
these images, you will find that they can be very
helpful as you go through each day. When you are at
work and having difficulty with a coworker, or if you
are in another stressful situation, you can recall these
images to your mind. They will naturally bring back to
you the feeling of peace, restfulness, and love which
you experience in the Stillness. They will help you
refocus on what is real and what is your destiny.
Even though the problems you face each day are
difficult, they take on less importance as you
recognize their transitory nature. Forgiving becomes
easier because you understand those who act and
respond in negative ways do so because they do not
know the love you are now learning to see and feel.
 
As you stay in the state of thanksgiving and praise,
you may find you will experience a variety of blissful,
even some ecstatic moments. I do not wish to focus
on this at this time because it is unique to each
individual. If it is described then you may let your
mind imagine it instead of it being real.  Second, if
you do not experience this ecstasy in your first week
of Stillness, you may say: “Oh – this isn’t real.” It may
take a long time, even years to develop an
experience like this. On the other hand, it may
happen quickly. I cannot say. It is between you and
the fragment of the Father which indwells you. Only
the Father knows what is best for you, what
experiences you can handle and what you cannot.
The Father does not want to frighten you for He loves
you and wants to watch over and guide you. He will
take your hand and lead you inch by inch, step by
step, and allow you to gradually feel more love and
grow in self-awareness. Steadily, you will begin to
see the presence of God in your brothers and sisters
and experience more health and happiness with His
love.
 
It is important you do not spend all your time in the
mental Stillness just praying and asking God to help
you. It is important, at some point, to stop your
dialogue with the Father and thank Him for who He
really is. See the beauty, goodness and love. Begin
to feel it. Thank God, praise Him for your opportunity
for life, for eternal life. If you do this, you will find new
depths of feelings, new insights and new inner
religious experiences which will strengthen you and
your faith in their reality. There will come a time when
others will look at you as you talk of your faith and
your inner knowing and ask "how do you know”? You
humbly and lovingly look back at them and say "I
know”. In time, you will know "the peace that passes
all understanding” and the meaning of the words
“seek the truth and the truth shall set you free”.
 
After worship, remain in a state of silent listening.
Now that you have drawn closer to the Father and
cleared much of the static from your mind, listen for
His guidance. You may sense a message of
inspiration and comfort emerging within your
consciousness. You may have beautiful
visualizations of color and light. You may even feel
as though you have been lifted up and embraced by
the Father Himself. On the other hand, and most of
the time, you will simply come to the realization of
your time with the Father as being over for now. But
remember every time you make the effort to grow
closer to God and allow God to grow closer to you,
your life will forever be changed for the better. Our
Father is generous; much will be added unto you.
Chapter Six: The Ladder of Stillness
 
The process of Stillness is in some ways like
climbing the steps of a ladder of consciousness. You
begin at a certain level of consciousness and try to
move yourself up the ladder until you reach the top.
While there can be varying views and opinions on
what the steps of the Stillness are, and because it is
a unique experience for each individual, I am
reluctant to list the steps. On the other hand, it
seems as though some type of a roadmap is
necessary. At least you will have an idea of how to
begin and move from level to level in ascending this
ladder. The following summarizes what you have
learned in the previous chapters on the
physical/mindal/spiritual levels of Stillness and
breaks them down into a more simple step-by-step
process.
 
Step 1: Physical Relaxation
 
The first step of the Stillness is physical relaxation.
We have already spent a chapter describing physical
relaxation and how to begin, so it does not seem
necessary to elaborate much further. I would only
add one point. The biggest stumbling block in
physical relaxation is fatigue. When you are very
tired and try to do your Stillness, you may find you
will drift off into sleep. If the Stillness is something
you wish to do, try to find a time when you will be
awake and your mind alert. But not be concerned.
Some sessions will be better than others. If you are
tired but you still want to do it and drift off into sleep,
do not worry about it. You can try again the next day.
What is most important is making the practice of
Stillness a daily habit. You know the saying, “Just do
it!”
 
Step 2: Mental Stillness
 
Just as with physical Stillness, we have already
spent a chapter covering this step, so it does not
require much further elaboration either. The goal is to
quiet your mind. Stop all of the up-rushings and
various thoughts coming into your mind. Many of
them are worries of today, making plans for
tomorrow, and thinking about all of the things you
have to accomplish. Sometimes even our fears and
anxieties come rushing from the unconscious portion
of our mind. But as you still your mind, you will find a
feeling of peace and tranquility begins to overcome
you. You will also sense a rush of energy into your
body. This is the process of rejuvenation and
restoration of energy. This is why after the Stillness
you will feel very relaxed and renewed as if you had
slept for a while. This is also a turning point in our
understanding of this process.
 
Many schools of thought on meditation teach
physical and mental relaxation. At this point they
describe going into a silence and simply diffusing
your consciousness into the consciousness of the
universe. Here you remain awaiting whatever
experience might arise. It may be peace and
tranquility. Sometimes it can be elevated to a state of
bliss, even ecstasy. But the reason I have used the
term “Stillness” rather than meditation is that there is
a distinct difference. In the Stillness, our goal is to
achieve more than just this tranquility. Our goal is to
attempt to communicate with God. Just as you have
a subconscious mind, think of your Spirit Fragment
dwelling in a realm called the “superconscious” mind.
After we have stilled our mind and are feeling
peaceful, the next step is to focus our consciousness
toward the superconscious realm of the mind. This
superconscious realm is where the fragment of God
dwells. This leads us to our next step.
 
Step 3: Dialogue with God
 
This is a time to begin your dialogue with God. He is
your friend, counselor, and loving parent. You can tell
Him whatever is on your mind. Talk about some of
your experiences. Talk about what is troubling you.
Talk about some of the joys of sorrows you had
during the day. As said earlier, God already knows
these things, but as we talk we build a relationship
with Him. We are developing our familiarity and with
talking to God regularly.
 
Doing this helps us to see God as a person whom we
can love and trust. You do not want to spend an
excessive amount of time in dialogue; focus only on
the most important things on your mind. As you talk
to God within your mind and finish a statement or
question, take a moment to pause and listen.
Sometimes you will sense you are being given some
inner guidance to your questions or comments. If not,
proceed with your dialogue. It maybe helpful for you
to use visualizations at this point. Picture yourself as
a young child sitting on the Father’s lap or sitting
beside him. Whatever imagery helps you feel you are
actually with God is helpful. If you do not need this
imagery, this is also fine. When you have finished
your dialogue, talking and listening, you are ready for
the next step.
 
Step 4: Prayer
 
Now that you have talked with God about your
problems, it is time to focus on prayer. Prayer is
simply asking God for what you need or what
someone else whom you wish to pray for may need.
We have already said that prayer should be to help
someone the spiritual level, not at the material level.
You cannot expect God to magically change your or
another’s circumstances. But you can ask God to
help you understand your circumstances and to
develop insight into the lessons which can be
learned. You can ask to have your attitude adjusted
to a more positive acceptance of your circumstances.
This is also true for anyone else for whom you may
wish to pray for. After you have talked with someone
and can see their problem, ask yourself what would
be most helpful for them. Then pray for that. Pray
they receive the understanding from the God that
indwells them. You see, praying for someone in this
way takes on a slightly different meaning. You are
really praying on their behalf because they do not yet
understand what you pray for. It is as if they said to
you, “I don’t know what I should be praying for, so
you say the prayer for me.”
 
Step 5: Worship
 
Now we move beyond prayer to worship. Worship is
different than prayer in that worship is not asking for
anything. Worship is simply giving thanks and praise
to God for all the good that He is. At this point, focus
upon what is positive in your life, rather than the
physical/material problems of daily existence. You
can imagine yourself in the warmth of the Father’s
love. Thank Him for the loved ones in your life. Thank
Him for the peace and tranquility He is helping you
find. Thank Him for the understanding and insight
you are now developing. Thank Him for being so
good and loving. Here you can visualize yourself
surrounded in a beautiful place by loving and happy
people who are truly at peace. Realize this is your
destiny. This is the way your eternal life will be! You
can then thank the Father for the potential He has
given you and for the opportunity to begin to
experience some of His love and happiness now.
Sometimes your thanksgiving will elevate into a
sense of awe, a feeling of adoration. This is true
worship. You can sing silently within your heart. You
can reach out to embrace the Father. Whatever
means of getting love back to your Father you can
imagine, do this at this time.
 
Step 6: Silent Listening
 
Now comes a time when you wait silently for the
Father’s guidance. You did this during the dialogue
step, but if you did not immediately hear a response
in your mind, you continued the dialogue. Again, you
do not expect initially to hear a loud voice in your
head. The Father would not want to scare you. He
knows what you can handle. He knows how to guide
you gently at this time. Just enjoy silent listening and
being in the still company of the Father. Do not
dialogue or pray, just listen. Sometimes you will find
very inspirational thoughts come into your mind. Are
they from the Father? Are they from your angels or
from your own mind? Any of these may be
possibilities. Do not concern yourself with the source.
Only concern yourself with the truth and guidance
you are being given.
After you finish your Stillness session, you may want
to write some of these thoughts down while they are
still fresh in your mind. They may be some of your
clearest insights, some of your most inspirational and
creative thoughts. If you do not receive anything, that
is fine. Just enjoy this time. Bask in the Father's
presence. Bask in the feeling of His love. Just enjoy
being with Him knowing He is there for you, knowing
He loves you. You have already talked to Him,
prayed, and worshiped. Now is the time for you to
just sit and be together. Now is the time to just listen
in case He wishes to communicate to your conscious
state of mind. Normally, the end of your silent
listening will bring you to the end of your Stillness
session. You will have a sense of when to emerge
from Stillness. However, there is one more possible
step.
 
Step 7: The Embrace
 
It is rare but possible, that if your mind is at peace in
your heart is filled with love for the Father, He may
be so moved by you that you will feel as if He has
reached down and lifted you up to embrace you. This
is the experience of ecstasy that the most spiritually
enlightened of this world have tried to describe and
encouraged us to pursue. It is called various names
by different religious traditions, but the experience is
the same. If this occurs, you will unquestionably
know it for it is an experience unlike any other. The
feeling of love and peace is beyond words. In this
embrace, there is no sense of place or time. It is as if
you have been transported to a totally different
dimension. There is no reason for fear; there is no
reason for anxiety. It is an utter state of ecstasy.
Words fail, but if you have ever been blessed to
receive this, you will know it.
 
It may take time for you to have an experience like
this, or you may not have this experience. On the
other hand, you may receive a partial embrace, you
may receive a partial glimpse of spiritual reality. I
cannot say more as it is up to your own indwelling
spirit to decide what is appropriate for your stage of
growth. But I mention this because it is real. It is the
most wonderful experience a human could ever
imagine.

Having presented of the seven steps of Stillness, let

me offer some additional points to consider as you
begin to practice. It is important to remember the
Stillness is not a losing or a diffusing of
consciousness after the first two steps. From step
three on, it is a focusing of consciousness upon your
Indwelling Spirit in an effort to commune with God.
No matter how far you go up the ladder each time
you practice the Stillness, you should understand
that your consciousness will be positively altered.
Each time you make this attempt to expand your
awareness of spiritual reality and to find God, you will
never retreat back to exactly the same state of
consciousness. It will always be expanded
somewhat. You cannot measure this exactly, and
you will not necessarily feel the difference at each
session. But over time, you will know you are
growing. 1You will see and feel this inner growth in
your understanding of yourself, and others, and of
life. It will come in the form of your feeling loved and
being more loving towards others and in your
growing patience and tolerance with your brothers
and sisters. All of these and more will show you that
you are growing spiritually.
Do not be concerned with how much you are
growing. Simply do what you need to do each day
and allow your spiritual growth to take its natural
progressive course. Never be concerned about
comparing your growth to someone else’s. Each
individual is different. Share your experiences but
never attempt to make judgments on another’s
spiritual status. You never know whether another
person, although you may not understand them, is
further along the path than you are. But on the other
hand, you will always have a simple way to know if
they are growing. You will know not by what they
say, but by how well they are living the Fruits of the
Spirit. If you see or feel the love of the Father come
through them, if you see or feel their compassion and
desire to serve, then you know they are on the path.
 
When you ascend this ladder of consciousness, you
will find it becomes much easier to understand life.
When you are on the ground level of consciousness,
which means you are wrapped up in the physical and
material level of existence and functioning, you feel
like you are in a maze looking for the right door to get
through. But when you ascend this ladder of
consciousness, you are above the material level of
perception. Now you can look down on your life and
see the right direction more clearly. You see where
you have turned this way or that. You see why you
could not find the right door to go through. While all
this spiritual progress takes time, you may actually
be amazing how quickly you notice changes in your
life and in your understanding.
 
As I said earlier, you will be greatly rewarded for your
efforts. Do not overly analyze or criticize your time in
the Stillness. Simply make your best effort and
whatever happens at a session is all right. Just allow
it to be what it is. You may not ascend all the steps of
the Stillness each time. That is also all right. Do the
best you can. What is most important is that you are
willing to make the effort to turn to God and share
your life with Him. All the rest will simply work itself
out in time. You have the perfect guide along to help
show you the way. Doing the will of God is nothing
more or less than your willingness to share your
inner life with God, to have a relationship with Him.
As you grow more experienced in your Stillness
practice, you will eventually find that Steps 1 and 2,
physical and mental Stillness, can be achieved quite
quickly. You may also find because of your
awareness of God throughout the day is growing,
you have already had an ongoing dialogue and even
been praying at different times for yourself or others.
If this is the case, you may want to skip these next
steps and move right to worship and silent listening.
It is not necessary to go through each step. These
have been given to you to help you get started. As
with anything, experience, insight and wisdom will
help you understand the process better. When you
finish your session in the Stillness, you will feel very
physically relaxed, mentally clear and sense an aura,
a shell of love surrounding you. In time, it is even
possible to live in this state of consciousness
throughout the day. Life is not easy on this world. It is
not easy to have to spend most of the day working a
job just to earn a living. But when times are stressful
during the day, you will be able to recall this feeling
of love, this state of serenity, and use these feelings
to relieve the stress and difficulties of your day.
 
The apostles called Jesus "Master" because this is
exactly what He did. He mastered the challenges and
difficulties of earthly existence. Through frequent
communication with the Father, He was able to
overcome all the difficulties of His life. None of us will
face anything even remotely equivalent to the difficult
life Jesus had; none of us will end up being crucified.
But He lived His life and mastered all the difficulties
so that He might show us the way to live. His life
should not be viewed as an exact example to follow
because we do not have to become public preachers
or end up being crucified. Rather, His life is our
inspiration. He showed us by turning to the Father
that we can gain insight, understanding, courage and
love. Armed with these, we can face all of life’s
difficulties. With the Father at our side, we can
master whatever is put in our path. It is not likely we
can achieve such a high degree of mastery in this
short lifetime on this world, but the Master showed us
how it is possible. Just do the best you can
remember to call upon the Father anytime, not just in
the Stillness, to comfort and guide you. Also realize
you can call upon the Master for comfort and
guidance. He is sympathetic because He lived as a
human on this world.
Now you understand the steps of the Stillness. Climb
these steps each day and you will find yourself
growing closer to God and God becoming closer to
you. The Father loves you more than you can
imagine. If you begin this relationship with Him, He
will reward you with more love, health and happiness
than you ever have known.
Chapter 7: Health
 
At the beginning of this book, I said that the practice
of Stillness will lead to more love, health and
happiness. Let us now explore these more in depth.
We will begin with health.
When most people think of their health, they primarily
think of their physical health. But there is also mental
and spiritual health. You must realize that the
physical, mental and spiritual are all parts of reality. If
you ignore any one of these three parts, you will
remain out of balance. You will not feel fully
harmonized because you are missing a note in your
life’s cord. Much is been written on the state of
physical health, but we know much less of mental
health and even far less about spiritual health.
As mentioned earlier, it is well documented that the
practice of meditation/relaxation techniques are very
helpful in reducing stress and revitalizing energy. I
cannot emphasize this enough. While you already
know how important exercise and diet are to your
health, you are missing the most health-giving
practice of all, Stillness. In this practice, you are
relieving both the stresses in your physical body and
the mental tensions in your mind. In addition, you are
partaking of the spiritual energies flowing throughout
the universe from God. Spiritual reality impinges
upon mental reality. Mental reality impinges upon
physical reality. This is another way to understand
“Seek first the kingdom… and all these things will be
added”. There is great truth to this statement. It
means to focus upon the spiritual level of reality by
taking time each day to commune with the Father
and develop a relationship with Him. This is done in
the practices Stillness. Awaken yourself and become
more attuned to this spiritual reality existing within
and around you. When you do this, you will find your
spiritual growth has a positive effect on all of you. As
your spiritual awareness improves, you will find this
spiritual growth has a positive effect upon your
mental and physical health.
 
As you go into the Stillness and focus upon relaxing
your physical body and stilling the conflicts and
thoughts in your mind, you are opening yourself to
the unknown and unexplored energies of life. There
is more attention being paid to these healing
energies now. There is increasing attention being
given to alternative methods of healing including
energy manipulation and healing by touch. At this
point, no one really understands exactly how these
methods work. However, there is a growing
accumulation of experience which suggests that as
we are able to tap into these spiritual energies that
have a very health producing effect upon the body.
The more positive your spiritual and mental state, the
less disharmony, the last dis-ease there will be in in
your body.
 
The more positive your spiritual and mental state, the
less disharmony, the less dis-ease there will be in
your body. All of your body consists of energy. All of
this energy vibrates at certain harmonic levels. When
you have negative thoughts, when you carry great
conflict within you, it manifests itself in various parts
of your mental and physical bodies and causes parts
of your body to become out of harmony. When you
seek the Stillness and you begin to feel the Father’s
love and peace which comes over you, it re-
harmonizes the energy of your body, mind and spirit.
It relieves the dis-ease and the distressed parts of
your physical and mental systems. This is not
something which normally happens in one day,
although there are accounts of miraculous
(immediate) healing. Rather, it is a gradual result of a
lifelong practice.
 
As you spiritually grow and thereby improve your
spiritual health, the effects upon your mental and
physical health will definitely be seen.
 
Even some medical/psychological studies of people
who tend to live longer and have less heal problems
suggest good health is strongly related to a more
positive mental state. Naturally, in most
medical/psychological literature, they never talk
about more than a positive mental state because
there seems to be such an unawareness or
unwillingness to more publicly talk about our spiritual
state, our spiritual reality. This spiritual reality cannot
be proven so those trying to utilize a purely scientific
approach will always fail to portray a complete
picture of our total reality. They limit themselves to
the physical (medical) and mental (psychological)
levels thus ignoring the most real and permanent part
of ourselves, the spiritual. All life is a question of
balance. You need to have balance in your life. You
need some type of physical exercise, mental
exercise spiritual exercise.
 
What does it mean to be mentally healthy? Usually
you are considered mentally healthy as long as you
are not suffering from a mental disease. But, just as
you can be malnourished even though you are not
totally lacking in food, you may not be as mentally
healthy as you should be just because you are not
experiencing a debilitating mental illness. Mentally,
you need to feed and exercise your mind. By this I
mean not focusing all of your mental energy just on
work-related activities. To feed and exercise your
mind means to actually think about life. What is it?
Who are we? Why are we here?
 
Read a religious or philosophical book. Get involved
in a discussion group. Whatever it is, utilize that
philosophical, spiritualized thinking part of your mind.
This will stretch and flex your mental muscles. Your
mind will grow from the food of new thoughts,
insights and experiences. By opening and stretching
your mind, you will find your Spirit Fragment will
more easily be able to help you understand things.
When your mind is narrow or closed, it becomes
difficult for your Spirit Fragment to offer new insights
to you because you have built barriers. To help you
understand how your mind expands and increasing
levels of insight are achieved, let us explore the
nature of truth because it is the healthiest food for
your mind.
Truth is not a fixed thing. It is a life-long, eternity-long
pursuit. No one knows all of the answers. Your goal
should not be to think you have found a fixed set of
beliefs, “The Truth” and therefore there is no more
truth to be found. If you do this, you spend all of your
time laying the bricks of a metal wall that becomes a
barrier to finding new meanings and new truths. You
think you have to stay behind this wall and defend
your Truth from perishing. Real Truth needs no
defense because it cannot be destroyed. It is
imperishable and there is plenty for everyone. It
should be freely given. If others do not want to
pursue it, then let them go their own way in peace
until they awaken to the call of their own Inner Spirit.
Think about the concept of Truth for a moment. What
is true? Is God your Creator and Upholder? Has He
sent a fragment, a part of Himself, to indwell you and
be your Guide and lead you back to Him? Is there a
great universe filled with many spiritual beings who
are here to help you? How do you know if these
statements are true? Go in the Stillness and ask the
Spirit of God indwelling you and you will have your
answer.
 
Most of what people call "truth" is really just belief.
Beliefs are doctrines and theologies mostly of man-
made origin although some are partially inspired by
God or other celestial beings. They are theories
attempting to explain what the universe is, who we
are and what our destiny is. There is much you can
learn from these beliefs and all contain some
elements of truth but there are thousands of books,
religions, movements, philosophies and theories
which all claim to have "the truth". How will you sort
through this philosophical and religious maze to find
what is true? What makes you think any one book,
teacher or religious group that you have found has all
the truth?
 
There are grains of truth within everything but truth is
much greater than any one book, religion or system
of thought. You must look beyond these. You must
be open to all people, books, religions, and systems
of thought. You must learn to use your inner
guidance to help you determine what is really true.
You have the source of truth within you. Your Spirit
Fragment has been given to you by God Himself to
help you recognize truth. Learn to utilize this Inner
Guide to pilot you through the maze of life. When you
are uncertain, turn to this inner guidance during your
Stillness. Ask your Spirit Fragment to help you
discern what is really true. Ask questions and in time,
through a flash of insight, the words of another
person or the words in a book, you will find your
answer. It is literally true, “Seek and you will find”.
But to honestly seek, you must seek with an open
mind. Do not assume you have already found all of
the truth. If you really think this, then you have cut
yourself off from your potential for continuing growth.
The point of all this discussion about truth is that to
be mentally healthy, you must keep alive your search
for truth.
How do you know if you are finding the Truth? Ask
yourself these questions. Does it feel right? Does it
have a ring of truth within you? Do you sense that
your Inner Guide is telling you that this is true? Does
it seem to be reasonable to your mind even though
you cannot scientifically prove it? Faith and reason
are not the same, but your faith, the growing
awareness of what you inwardly trust to be true,
should always be reasonable. Finally, does following
your path toward greater truth bring about the Fruits
of the Spirit within you?
 
This last question leads us to the issue of what it
really means to be spiritually healthy. First, you will
find that you were growing in faith (not belief).
Second, you will increasingly be manifested the fruits
of the Spirit. Faith is your willingness to trust in the
guise of your inner spirit. Doubt is the unwillingness
to trust in the reality of your spiritual nature. Let’s ask
some more questions: Are you becoming more
tolerant, patient, loving and open-minded? Are you
learning to live more like inner guidance each day?
Are you becoming more loving toward yourself and
your brothers and sisters? Do you feel better about
yourself? Do others seem to notice you were
becoming a better person? We have no way to
objectively measure our spiritual growth, but the true
meaning of "By their fruits you shall know them"
reveals the evidence of spiritual growth. If you want
to be spiritually healthy, the Fruits of the Spirit are
your food and the Stillness is your exercise.
 
Now that we know what it means to be healthy at the
physical, mental and spiritual levels, what causes us
to be unhealthy?
 
First, you have to face the realities of living on a
material world in a material body subject to genetic
diseases, accidents, poor food quality, and a polluted
environment.
 
We can have only varying degrees of control over
these factors. But beyond these, it is our failure to
properly feed and exercise your whole selves,
physically, mentally and spiritually. Neglect any one
of these three parts of ourselves will create
imbalance and disharmony which can result in an
inadequate level of love, health and happiness. Why
do so many people fail to recognize the spiritual part
of them selves and settle for less love, health and
happiness? Fear, ignorance, complacency and
laziness are the basic reasons. Let me explain.
When we talk about spiritual growth and learning to
develop a relationship with God through the practice
of Stillness, some people seem turned off by this.
They have an image in their mind of what a spiritual
or religious person is. They see someone who is very
pious, timid and who has forsaken most of life’s
earthly pleasures. True spirituality has little to do with
these characteristics. True spirituality is not a matter
of how many prayers you recite each day, how many
earthly pleasures you deny yourself, or even how
well you know the text of a “sacred” or “revealed”
book. True spirituality is the degree to which you
manifest the Fruits of the Spirit. You can be a truly
spiritual person, a religious person, and still enjoy the
physical pleasures of life. There is nothing bad about
physical pleasures or the enjoyment of the physical
world as long as they are enjoyed in moderation. It is
only when they are taken to excess and made the
dominant pursuit in life that they become stumbling
blocks. You can be a very spiritual person and never
step foot in a church, synagogue, temple or mosque.
Conversely, some people who frequently attend
these places are not necessarily very spiritual
people. You know that by their actions, by the lack of
the Fruits of the Spirit. They are not loving, tolerant,
compassionate, and open-minded. The light and love
of their Inner Spirit is not shining through them.
Another measure of your spirituality is the degree of
development of your relationship with the God
indwelling you. You will never become God as the
First Source and Center of all life. But God has given
a fragment of Himself to indwell each person. This is
the way He keeps in touch with us. This is how He
knows all of our thoughts, feelings, hopes and
dreams. As your relationship with God grows, He is
gradually showing you more of the divine qualities
dominating His universe. These qualities are the
Fruits of the Spirit. The more you manifest these
fruits, the more God-like you become. Gradually your
will is to want to do His will.
So our image of what it means to be a spiritual
person should be adjusted to reflect these concepts.
You can be a beloved child of God and still enjoy the
physical reality He has given us. Whether you use
cosmetics, dance, play cards or even go to church
every week has nothing to do with being a
religious/spiritually alive person. These are merely
childish, man-made restrictions that show a lack of
understanding of what real spirituality is all about.
You can be loving, kind, tolerant, patient, open-
minded and full of grace (a spiritual person) and still
laugh, have fun and enjoy this physical life.
Now that you have adjusted your idea of what it
means to have a spiritual life and a relationship with
God, you have some decisions to make.
 
If you are afraid of what your friends will think, have
grown too complacent to want to change, or are too
lazy to make the effort, then you must accept your
current condition because you are not willing to do
anything to improve it. Take a chance. Try something
new! Instead of being pulled down to the level of
others by your fear of not conforming, let your
spiritual life show others a higher meaning of
spirituality. There is nothing to fear and so much to
be gained. How will you know what you are missing
unless you try something new? As you grow in your
relationship with God and become more attuned to
spirit reality, your fear of what others say and the
need for their approval will diminish. Why? Because
you have God’s approval. Seek out new friends who
understand what you are trying to do, who are
interested in walking this path with you. Their
numbers are growing rapidly. By far, the biggest
barrier to developing better health lies in our negative
and unforgiving attitude towards ourselves and
others. First, you must realize God loves you. You
are His beloved child and His love for you as well as
His mercy are beyond your imagination.
 
There is justice in the universe, and yes, if someone
continually spurned God’s love and mercy, eventually
they must account for their actions. But let God be
their judge and not you. You must realize that God’s
love and mercy are so great that most of the things
you or others have done what you think are so
terrible, are easily forgiven by God. It is a matter of
simply being sincere heart and asking forgiveness.
Actually, He has already forgiven you if you are in
earnest. How could a loving parent not forgive their
precious child if the child was sincere? The things
others have done to you can be easily forgiven when
you realize if they were awaken to the God within
them, they would never have done anything to hurt
you.
Some say: “I cannot seek the Stillness. I cannot
develop this relationship with God because I am not
worthy. God could not possibly love me because of
what I have done. No one could love me."
This, my friends, is an attitude you must simply
dismiss. The truth is that God does love you. He
loves you more than any other human could ever
possibly love you. He is the love of your life. All you
need to do is turn to Him and you will be forgiven.
Yes, you will make more mistakes in your life
because you learn by choosing and making
mistakes. You won’t always make the right one until
you learn to trust and follow the guidance of your
Inner Spirit. You see young children doing things you
wish they would not. Does that mean you stopped
loving them? No! You still love the children, you
simply try to correct their behavior. It is the same with
us. God still loves us. He knows we will make
mistakes because we are young children. From an
eternal universe perspective, even 70 or 80 years of
age is still considered a toddler. God understands
that. You must begin to understand it. There is
nothing you can do that God cannot forgive you for.
God loves you. His love for you never stops.
We are the ones who block out God’s love with our
negative attitudes towards ourselves and others. You
must forgive yourself because God has forgiven you.
In turn, you cannot go to God in the Stillness and ask
Him for understanding and to feel His love while you
carry unforgiving attitudes of revenge, vindictiveness
and resentment toward yourself or others.
Remember the earlier discussion. Other people you
meet in life are little children just like you. If they
knew God’s love, if they were seeking this path and
had found God's love, they would not that not act as
they do. They were not raised perfectly. They make
mistakes. They treat others in ways that are not kind
because they do not know a better way. Do not
confuse them as a child of God with their childish
actions. Love them. Dismiss their actions. In time,
whether in this life or when they pass on to the next
level, they will learn to act better. Do not expect so
much from them. If they do not know a better way,
then how can they act better?
 
Seek out those who are growing and who share your
desire to grow in a more positive way. Tell them
about your relationship with God. Let others see you
are changing. Let them see the Fruits of the Spirit
within you. Perhaps this will help them see a better
way. If not, relate to them the best you can but do not
feel that you must befriend every individual. You
should love them in the sense that you want what is
best for them. Love them in the sense that you know
God indwells them and in time they will learn a better
way. But, you do not have to like them. You do not
have to like their actions and should not feel guilty
because you do not wish to spend time with them.
Seek out those with whom you feel spiritual kinship
and let them become your closest friends and
associates.
If you harbor these unforgiving attitudes toward
yourself and others, it will cause you great distress,
great dis-ease with within you. Such negativity must
manifest itself in some way and it will disrupt your
physical, mental and spiritual health. It is the most
toxic and debilitating thing there is. So if you want to
be healthy, let go of these toxic, negative attitudes.
Forgive yourself. Forgive others. Remember the
words of Jesus, “Forgive them Father, for they know
not what they do.” This is literally true for you as well.
You must assess people’s actions because you must
decide whether you wish to have a relationship with
them or not but never judge their soul. Only God truly
knows their motivations. And believe it or not, the
Spirit of God is also within them. Perhaps their Spirit
is waiting for someone like you to show them some
kindness and love. Your actions can then be used by
their Inner Spirit in adjusting their thoughts to those
of love and kindness. This is how you can help them
become a more positive loving person.
 
During the Stillness, picture the negative thing you
have done or what someone else has done to you.
Bring it up into your consciousness while you feel
God by your side. Take another look at it. What you
will find is that it is not so terrible as you once
thought.
 
You make it powerful because you will not let it go.
You presume to know what God’s limits are because
you determine He could not possibly forgive you. It is
you has put the limits on forgiveness by your own
unwillingness to forgive. It is you who puts up the
barriers to accepting forgiveness. God can forgive
anything He wants and so can you. Looking through
the eyes of God, see it as simply your or another’s
mistake. Understand that sometimes little children
make mistakes. Simply let it go. Let it lose its power
over you. Only you can let it keep power over you by
constantly feeding it with unforgiving emotions and
thoughts.
 
Why go through the rest of your life feeling negatively
toward yourself or someone else? Why let this
negativity prohibit you from developing a strong
relationship with God? Why let it prevent you from
feeling love for yourself and others?
 
Do not let these negative thoughts ruin your life and
your health. Everyone has a fragment of a loving
Father within them. Whatever you or another person
did cannot destroy this fragment. Everything else is
transitory. Let it pass; life goes on. Anger and an
unforgiving attitude are too great a burden to bear,
physically, mentally and spiritually. Say these healing
words to yourself: “Forgive me Father for I know not
what I do. I forgive my brothers and sisters, Father,
for they know not what they do.”
Chapter Eight: Happiness
 
Think about the times you are happy. What do you
notice? You notice you are content, you feel at
peace. You may be with others whom you love and
who love you. You do not feel pressure or stress.
You feel positive toward others and life, and you feel
good about yourself. Believe it or not, this is the state
in which we were meant to live! If these are the
ingredients that make us happy; then how do we
bring more love and peace, and less stress and
pressure into our lives? The most significant way to
achieve this is through the practice of Stillness. Why?
Because Stillness will bring you closer to God and
and God closer to you. This relationship you share
with God is the greatest source of inner happiness.
Just as God is given this happiness to you, you will
want to serve others by giving happiness to them. As
you grow, you will realize what brings the greatest
happiness in life is the opportunity to give to others.
Sometimes we think service to others can only be
some great deed. We have this idea that moving to a
Third World country and spending the rest of our
lives devoted to the needy and poor is the greatest
service. There is no doubt this would be a great
service to humanity; however, our idea of service
does not have to be so grandiose. Every day of your
life opportunities to serve your brothers and sisters
are in front of you. You must learn to recognize them
more easily and frequently. You must realize no
matter how insignificant you think a small act of
kindness might be, it is important to the person you
are helping. Realize when you help others, you are
serving our Father.
The more loving service you get to others, the more
you will feel the father’s love for you. The more love
you feel, the happier you will be. Instead of being a
vicious cycle, this is a luscious cycle. Giving love
begets love. Giving happiness to others through
serving the begets happiness. No matter how much
you love and happiness you give, your cup will
always be automatically replenished. In the universe
there is never a shortage of love and happiness. You
can have all and give all you want. Knowing you are
a beloved child of the Father will make you feel
worthy and increase your self-esteem. No matter
what your status in life is, no matter what you have
done, the Father loves you just as much as he loves
anyone else. The Father loves all of his children
equally. You have the same potential for an eternal
life of love and happiness as anyone else. While life
may seem unfair at times on this world, it will not be
so when you move on. The reason you see so much
unfairness on this world is because you are only
looking at the physical/material level of reality. When
you look through spiritual eyes, there is fairness
because we are all loved equally by God and have
the same potential for eternal destiny.
As the feeling of love for yourself grows, it is only
natural you will want to share this inner happiness
with others. How do you share this love and inner
happiness you feel? You share by learning to give, to
serve your brothers and sisters. There are several
ways to serve every day. You don’t have to change
your outer life to do them. For example, one of the
greatest services of all is to just look at your brothers
and sisters and project love to them while talking with
them. They will not necessarily understand exactly
what is happening, but when you let the love of the
Father flow through you to them, they will feel it and it
will help them.
Another valuable service we can give to our brothers
and sisters is simply to listen to them. Most of the
time we really do not listen. We are so wrapped up in
ourselves we can hardly wait to gush out all of our
thoughts and beliefs about life and about whatever
the topic of discussion is. Try to learn to talk less and
listen more. Let the other person talk. This is
something most people who are troubled truly need.
They have not found God within them, they have not
yet begun to develop a relationship with Him. They
are still looking for other human beings to solve their
problems. Let them talk about their problems. You
become their sounding board. By talking, they can
actually hear themselves think, they can hear the
echo of their own thoughts. Through this process
they will often begin to see some solutions to their
problems. They might find their problems are not as
great or complicated as they thought.
As they eventually begin to wind down from gushing
forth all of their problems, they might even notice
how calm you are, that you seem to have an inner
peace and love about you. They might even ask how
you achieve such a state! At that point, you can tell
them they are a child of God and a part of God lives
within them which loves them deeply. Through a
practice called Stillness, they can begin to develop a
relationship with God. They can find some love and
happiness in their life and find the answers to their
problems. You can light the way, you can show them
how a relationship with God has helped you. It will
not always happen this way. But little by little, step-
by-step, you can help others to come to this
realization.
Humor is another great method of service. I do not
mean the cutting, sarcastic, demeaning humor so
common in our culture. Rather, I mean a genuine
lightheartedness  brought about by learning to laugh
at life’s problems and out ourselves. Use of his
gentle humor can be very helpful to others. It lightens
their load. Laughter releives much stress. Those who
can laugh at life and at themselves when will be
much happier and healthier. We truly take ourselves
too seriously. See life as a learning process. From an
eternity viewpoint, this life is but a day’s work, so do
it well! We are loved; we are given guidance. What
are we so worried about? It is simply up to us to
make the effort to become more loving, to do the
best we can. When you make a mistake, pick
yourself up, dust yourself off and have a good laugh.
Get on with life. No one gets through life without
making mistakes. But while you are living it, why not
be of good cheer yourself and spread around?
Your level of maturity is not gauged so much by the
quantity or quality of the mistakes you make, but how
you react to these mistakes. Do you let them defeat
you? Or, do you turn to God in the Stillness and ask
Him for renewed strength and courage to get back on
the track, ready to face more of life experiences? Life
is not easy. But through the Stillness, through
learning God is by your side at all times, you can
view your life as full of challenges instead of
difficulties. You have the opportunity for eternal life.
Broaden your perspective to see this life is just the
beginning of your destiny. Nothing can happen in this
life that cannot be corrected eventually. Lighten your
burden and the burden of others. God has all the
patience necessary, and you have all the time in the
world.
Giving advice or counsel is another way to serve
others, but advice is best given when asked for.
Rather than endlessly talking about how you would
handle a situation, help others explore the best
solution by asking them questions about what they
are saying. Remember, the best advice is already
within them. Your service is to help draw it out. How
do you do that? Mostly by listening which was
discussed previously. But if you do give advice,
counsel someone about how to solve problems for
themselves rather than you solving it for them. You
have heard the saying, “give man a fish, and he has
food for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and then he
has food for the rest of his life.” The best advice is
always to help a person find their own answers
within.
Learn to help people in ways they perceive will be
helpful to them. However, do not do something which
would be harmful to them, even if they think it would
be good for them. Otherwise try to help them with
whatever they think they need rather than what you
would prefer to do for them. If they need help in
going to the grocery store, fixing the sink, then help
them with that. When you spend time with them in
these types of activities, opportunities to help them at
a deeper, more spiritual level may occur. And in
these moments you can let the Father speak through
you and give this other person the words to comfort
them. As discussed earlier, the answers to life's
problems can come in many ways because the
Father speaks to us in many ways. Answers may
come from books, through the words of another
person, through our own moments of inspiration,
through our own in a religious experience. Be alert to
these opportunities for service. Learn to help in the
little ways. In time, greater opportunities may come.
I will mention one more way to serve, which is
probably the greatest service of all. You don’t even
have to step out of your house to do it. In fact, you
can do it at any time in and at any place. You
guessed it? Prayer. Prayer is discussed so much that
sometimes I think we forget how effective it can be. It
can be so effective because we are enlisting the help
of unseen forces and spiritual beings who love and
watch over us. More than anything, these beings
want to show their love by serving as. However, keep
in mind what was mentioned in an earlier chapter. If
you pray for the material/physical level solutions, you
may not see results. If it were that easy, we would all
pray to win the lottery and all be instant millionaires.
Another way to think about it is if you think God cares
about money, just look at those who have it! Are they
the most spiritual or deserving?
For what then should you pray? Pray for others to be
given a specific insight into their problem or behavior.
Pray they be given courage, wisdom, patience,
tolerance or whatever other spiritual fruit they need. If
the best you can do is to recite some formalized
prayer you have memorized, then that is better than
nothing else because your intent sincere and loving.
But let me try to expand upon an idea to make your
prayer not only sincere but more effective.
 
Suppose your child or a friend came to you and said,
"I need your help.” What thoughts would go through
your mind? Wouldn’t you wonder what the nature of
the problem was and what specific kind of help they
needed? They say, “I'm in trouble." You still don't
know what the problem is or what kind of help is
needed. Then they say, “Things aren’t going well.” By
now you're ready to shout, "Just tell me what the
problem is and what kind of help you need!" The
response is, "Okay, my husband is leaving me and I
feel like my life is falling apart and I don't know what
to do."
 
Now you know the problem. There are many things
you can do to serve such as watching her children for
her occasionally, being a good listener, and praying
for her. To pray for her, you need to assess what she
needs at the spiritual level. She appears lost, alone,
insecure, and frightened. She could lose insight into
a broader perspective which shows her she will
survive. Also, an awareness of the presence of God
and her angels to let her know she is not alone is
helpful. She could use an understanding that, with
the help of God and her friends, she has the inner
strength to cope with the situation and the courage to
walk through this dark valley and overcome her fear.
These are the things she needs most. These are
what you could pray for. Also, pray she will be given
the awareness to turn to her God within for guidance.
Whenever you encounter another person, ask
yourself what they need immediately after you have
left them. Then envisage them surrounded by an
aura of love you have projected toward them. Then
say a prayer which asks specifically for what you
think they need. You say the prayer they would say if
they were more enlightened. Also, let them know you
will pray for them.
Now the angels, guides and other spiritual forces can
go to work. You’ve given them a job they are able
and willing to do. There are so many people in need
you can be of service much of the time by praying.
You didn't even need to leave your job and move to
another country!
The opportunities for service to others are abundant.
I have mentioned only a few, but all of these can be
done in your everyday life. Service is the key to
happiness. As you are increasingly filled with the
Father’s love and learn to help others, you will
become much happier. You will feel loved and loving,
peaceful, less stressful and have a more positive
attitude toward yourself, others and life. As I said at
the beginning of this chapter, these are the
ingredients for happiness.
Chapter Nine: Love
 
How do we learn to love and be loved? We know we
are imperfect. We know we make mistakes. We
know we have done hurtful things to people and
other people have done hurtful things to us. Where is
this love that is supposed to fill our life? The greatest
love you will find in life is the love of our Father. The
Father loves you more than any human could
possibly love you. Why do you not feel this love of
the Father? Because you have not sought it.
Because you have not spent time to develop a
relationship with the Father. How can you feel love
from someone who you do not personally know? Can
you feel love from another human that you have
never met? Of course not. Therefore, to feel the
Father’s love and love Him in return, you need to get
to know Him. How do you do that? Through the
practice of Stillness. As you spend time in the
Stillness, ask the Father to feel His love. Give Him
thanks and praise Him up for the beauty and the
goodness that He has created. Over time you will
gradually sense His presence, a growing feeling of
His love surrounding you. It is as if a protective shield
is being placed around you. It feels warm, it feels
wonderful. It is there for the asking. You must simply
make the effort.
The Father’s love has always been there for us, but
we have been too busy, too blind or too unwilling to
seek it. We have put up the barriers to the Father’s
love by not recognizing Him, but not making the effort
to know Him. Once we begin to make this effort, the
barrier comes down and the love comes in. We begin
to feel it more strongly each day. It will not
overwhelm you, it is subtle. It is something that
gradually grows. There will be times in the Stillness
when you will feel it more intensely and other times
more subtly. But if you continue your practice, over
time you will become more aware of this love that is
within you. You will sense the presence of the Father
within you. Now you have the love of your life. Now
you have the wisest, kindest, and most loving person
by your side at all times. Do you know the words,
“what does it matter if all things earthly crumble?”
Those who build his relationship with the Father and
feel the love of the Father in their soul can begin to
truly understand what this statement means. The
Father is with you. He loves you. He will help you get
through all of life’s problems. And when you finally
pass on after experiencing physical death, you will
move to the next level of life in the universe. There
the Father will continue to guide you.
It is good to fall in love with someone to share
companionship or to have a family. But always keep
in mind that these other human beings, these are
other imperfect humans just like you. Do not expect
they will be perfect or that you will have a perfect
loving relationship with these other humans. The
problem is most people seek only this human love
relationship rather that also seeking a relationship
with God. Then they wonder why they are
disappointed, why love has passed them by. Love
has not passed any of us by, it is waiting for us to
simply seek it out. But we tend not to look in the right
places. We are not told much about the love of God
or that spiritual reality is the enduring reality. We do
not come to value its existence as being as real as a
physical/material reality. But if you give it a chance, if
you seek a spiritual reality of God within, you’re
welcome to know it is just as real. In fact, in time it
will seem even more real to you than much of what
goes on around you in the physical/material world.
In time, the petty jealousy, biting comments, greed,
materialism, and self-aggrandizement of humans that
you encounter at some level every day will actually
begin to seem less real. What you will begin to see is
people acting in these ways because they do not
know a better way. They are not yet aware that spirit
reality is the reality of beauty, truth and goodness.
This is the permanent reality. This is the eternal
reality. The negative attitudes, thoughts and actions
you see around you are only temporary. They are
there because people do not seek or know a better
way. But these negative and immature reactions are
all fleeting. They all pass quickly. The love, truth and
beauty that is true reality are enduring. You simply
have to seek it and learn to recognize it more. Let the
Father be your guide.
Not only will you begin to feel more love for yourself
as you begin to see yourself as a cherished child of
God, but also you will  begin to see the presence of
the Father in your brothers and sisters. This can be a
difficult change of perception to accomplish because
it because others can act in some very unloving
ways. Remember in an earlier chapter we talked
about one technique in which you look at your
brothers and sisters and picture them while they
were little children standing in the cribs. Their eyes
were big and bright and beautiful. You can see their
wonderful potential to be a loving, kind, truth-seeking
human being within them. The potential is still there
no matter how distorted or disguised. Or, think of
them as an acorn seed trying to grow in a difficult
environment, a difficult climate. Their leaves are
weathered, their limbs are heavey from life’s storms,
but the potential to become a beautiful oak tree
gently swaying in the breeze in the warmth of the
sunlight is there.
To feel love for him to see the presence of God and
others, remember to separate their actions from their
true selves. If they commit crimes, it may be
necessary to put them in institutions where they
cannot hurt others. But, never forget whether in this
lifetime or as they move onto the next level, their
potential is still there. God is still within them. If they
have become so evil or corrupt there is no goodness
left within them that they can be salvaged, then their
fate must be sealed. But, we cannot know this. Only
God knows them well enough to be there judge.
Meanwhile, look at them with compassion, not
hatred. Hate their actions, but look at the individual
with compassion. Love the sinner, hate the sin. Do
you really believe if people knew God, His love for
them, and the goodness and beauty of a loving and
kind universe that awaits them, they would act in the
ways they do? I really think they would not. I think
they would want to be part of such a loving and
beautiful universe. Most people are starving for love
while the greatest love of all is waiting within. Let
them see the Father's love within you.
There is another approach you might take to learn to
love others. Look at another person and realize that
God indwells them just as God and indwells you.
Imagine yourself talking to the God fragment within
them. Would you say negative things? Would you
say hurtful things? If you try this, you will find the
level at which you relate to this person will be very
uplifted. You will try to communicate clearly and in a
kind and loving manner. After all, if you imagine you
were talking to God, don’t you think you will be on
your best behavior?! To do this, you must raise your
level of consciousness to feel God's presence within
you. Then, in a sense you allow the God within you
to communicate with the God within them. If others
do not respond in a loving way, it is not your problem.
It is their problem. Your responsibility is to do the
best you can. You cannot make choices for others.
They must follow their own path, they must find God
in their own way and time. You should not expect
that just because you attempt to act in a more loving
and kind way you will always receive this in return. In
fact, while on this world, you will not receive this in
many instances because most people have not yet
awaked to their true nature. The point is for you to do
the best you can. You only have control over your
own decisions and actions, not everyone else’s. If
they are open and searching, you can help them.
You will know it and and it will fill you with happiness
to be of service to them. But if they are not, if they
are closed and still very negative, let your light shine.
Treat them in a kind way. Say a prayer for them to be
awakened to the Father’s love within them.
Remember the action is your responsibility and the
reaction is theirs.
As you become aware of the presence of God within
and feel how much God loves you, your love for God
and your love for others will grow immensely. As this
occurs, it is only natural you will want to let this love
flow through you to others. It is only natural you will
want to serve others. It is only natural you will begin
to see the presence of God in all your brothers and
sisters. While we may differ as human beings
physically or mentally, from a spiritual point of view,
we are all equal. Equal because God loves each of
us the same. Equal because we have a fragment of
God within us. No matter how poor or rich, no matter
what occupational status in life, every normal human
has the Spirit of God within them. Therefore, you
should always be respectful of another person
because of the Spirit within them. Judge their actions
if you have to, but do not ever judge there soul, their
spiritual status.
 
As your practice of the Stillness continues, more and
more you will be able to see the love of God all
around you. Eventually, you will understand the
highest meaning of the statement that learning to
love yourself, the spirit fragment of God within you
and the personality making you are a unique child of
God, is the greatest love of all. When you truly have
learned to love yourself, all of your human
relationships will become more loving. When you feel
loved and loving, you do not respond to unkindness
with more unkindness rather, you let the unkind
remarks our actions bounce off the shield of love
surrounding you. When the remark or action just
bounces off instead of letting it wound you and make
you want to retaliate, it is reflected immediately and
undistortedly back to the other person. They can now
see more clearly what they have said or done. In
most instances they will regret it. This is the meaning
of learning to “turn the other cheek”. Your
impenetrable barrier of love can withstand even a
second attack. Eventually, the other person will
realize their negative remarks or actions are only
hurting themselves.
Can love be defined? The best definition of love I
have ever heard is love is the desire to do good to
others. Think about it. When you love someone, don’t
you want to do things for them? This could be
parents, children, spouse, companions and others.
When you “fall in love”, don’t you try to think of ways
to please the other person with flowers, little notes
and special gifts? This is what you should feel for
yourself and everyone else you meet when you have
become saturated with the Father’s love. Can you
even imagine what the world would be like if
everyone felt such love within them? It is hard to
imagine, but yet this is your destiny. This is how
spiritual beings live in the universe. One day you will
live this way, but why wait?! You can begin to feel the
love of God today by beginning this practice of
Stillness. Make this world a better place now by
letting the love flow through you to your brothers and
sisters. Let your inner light shine as a beacon to all
the lost and storm-ravaged souls who sail upon the
sea of life.
Chapter Ten: Faith
 
In addition to more love, health and happiness in
your life, the continuing practice of Stillness, the
continuing development of your relationship with
God, will lead you to a greater realization of what
faith is. Faith and belief are different. Belief is
ascribing to some set of doctrines or statements
about what life and God are supposed to be. Faith,
on the other hand, is a living, dynamic process in
which you are gradually learning to trust more in the
God who dwells within you. As your relationship with
God is growing, your faith in God is growing. You are
learning to trust more, to seek inner guidance to
solve the problems of your life, to discern what is true
and what is not, and to feel more love for yourself
and others.
There is a great difference between this living faith
and mere belief. Many people attend churches,
synagogues, mosques or temples and they have a
belief in the tenants of their particular religions. But
what happens when life brings them a difficult
situation? Will belief in these precepts help them?
They are usually told if they simply pray more,
everything will be alright. And so they recite the
formalized prayers of their religions. Yet these things
do not usually change and they become
disillusioned. Perhaps it would be nice if it were so
simple that we need not take any responsibility for
our spiritual development. We would simply have to
attend meetings of some religious organization, say
we believe the things they believe and everything
would be taken care of. We would not have to stop
and think. We would not have to think about the
issues of life. We would not have to attempt to
develop a relationship with God. All we need to do is
follow a few rules and ascribe to a few beliefs. But,
such a secondhand relationship with God will not
serve you well. It will not give you the level of love,
health and happiness you deserve and desire. 
 
Within you is the most knowledgeable, wise, loving
person you can ever imagine. Why not let this
person, this fragment of God, be your guide and your
friend? Why not learn to turn your troubles over to
this person and let Him help you? Then, no matter
what situation you face in life, you have this all-wise
and all-loving comforter right by your side. And,
because you have developed a relationship, you can
call on Him anytime and He will always be there for
you. This firsthand religion, this first-hand experience
of God within you, is what true faith is all about. As
you grow, your understanding of truth and God can
change because your faith is what grounds you. All
this change and growth is allowed because you have
this perfect God within you to help you make these
adjustments in your way of thinking and acting. You
are not limited to an unchanging, fixed, or
circumscribed set a presepts developed mostly by
the thoughts of men. Rather, you are open to the
inner guidance from a divine source.
Many people may not want to pursue this path
because they think it is too difficult or they simply do
not want to make the effort. As you well know,
nothing of value comes without effort. To be
successful in the material world requires effort. To be
successful in mental endeavors requires effort. To be
successful at the spiritual level on this world also
requires effort. There could be some anxiety and
confusion along the way, but this is present in your
life already. However, as you begin to grow in your
relationship with God, your anxiety and confusion will
lessen because now you have an inner comforter
and teacher who is showing you a better way.
 
Learn to trust this wonderful spiritual Father just as a
little child trusts his earthly parents. Go to the Father
with all your troubles and anxieties and allow Him to
guide, comfort, and show you how much He loves
you. It is an easy process when you think about it.
You are simply developing this relationship. You
already know how to do it.  Remember, spend time
each day with him! What could be easier? What
could be simpler? Is the price of 30 minutes to an
hour a day for the wealth of love, health and
happiness too much? It seems as though it’s quite a
bargain! All the love and faith you need is yours just
by your willingness to share your life with God.
One of the most helpful suggestions in this process is
to find people who are on a similar path. Try to find
others who would like to begin this practice of
Stillness. Then, get together with them each week or
every two weeks. You can spend some time in
Stillness together, but then use some time to talk
about your experience. Share the experience of your
inner religious life of each other. The difficulties, what
experiences, what joys are you having in your
practices Stillness? You will find this will be very
helpful and very comforting. It is very difficult to
experience something by our selves and not have
others with whom to share. You need this opportunity
to share what you are learning with other people,
they need the opportunity to share with you.
No one sees the total picture of life. We see different
parts. But if we pool the vision of each of our parts,
we can see a larger picture of the whole. This is the
advantage of sharing your understanding about life,
the Stillness, and your relationship with God. There
are many others would be who would like to begin
the search just as you would. Seek them out.  Set up
an opportunity to share with them even if you only
find one person. If there are more, even better. If you
have many, split into small groups so everyone has
ample opportunity to share their thoughts and
feelings and discussion.
This faith, this relationship that you were developing
with God, is a living water Jesus talked about. If you
look at Jesus’ life you will see whenever He had
difficulties or wasn’t sure, He went to commune with
the Father. This is the secret of life. It is the key to
the spiritual kingdom. All those who wish to enter
must be born again. What does that really mean? It
simply means you have decided to develop this
relationship with God. You are going to make God a
part of your life. You have been born into the spiritual
level of reality. Doing the will of God has nothing to
do with what you do to earn a living or other
physical/material world issues. It simply means you
are willing to share your inner life with God by
developing a relationship with Him. It means you are
willing to trust His guidance through life. As you
come to know God, you will come to know His will,
His way for you. You will freely choose to do His will
and follow His way because He is the way of truth,
beauty and goodness. Truth is really very simple
once you understand it, but you cannot find it without
the help of the Spirit of God within.
When you became an adult, you left the safe harbor
of your childhood and set sail upon the uncharted
sea of life. On your voyage, you have visited many
islands of experience such as jobs, relationships,
religions, social causes, etc. You may even have
temporarily wrecked your ship upon the rocks of
drugs, alcohol or other abuses and obsessions. As a
captain of your ship, you have chosen which islands
to visit and when it was time to leave and set sale
again. You have steered your ship through life’s fog,
rough waters and even storms. The days of blue
skies and warm breezes have given you hope of
finding your destination. What is most remarkable is
most of us continue to sail without the aid of a pilot.
We let the winds of fate and our own limited
knowledge fill our sails and determine our course.
What is a pilot? He is the one who knows your
destination and has the charts to plot the course to
take you there. Who is your pilot? He is a fragment of
God, the Spirit of God who lives within you. He is
always there to guide you, but He can only suggest a
course or direction because you are the captain.
Only the captain makes decisions. Are you tired of
losing your way, not knowing where you are going
and how to get there? Then turn to the pilot within for
guidance. You will still encounter islands to
experience and rough waters. But now you have a
pilot who can also be your tour guide to help you
choose the best islands. Now you have someone to
help you find the shortest and most direct course to
sail through those stormy times. Most importantly,
now you have someone who cares about you too sail
with.
Why do you insist on making the voyage alone and
without guidance? Let the winds of faith, not fate, fill
your sails as you continue your voyage to Paradise.
Your pilot hails from Paradise, so He knows how to
guide you there.
Conclusion
 
While I may have seemed critical of our world
religious/philosophical systems of thought and
organized religions because they have not made this
personal relationship with God their primary teaching,
I am not suggesting you should abandon them. You
can find comfort and fellowship in these
philosophical/religious organizations. Your practice of
the Stillness, your development of a relationship with
God can be done with or without them. You need not
give up your beliefs in a particular
religious/philosophical system of thought in which
you are participating. It is not necessary because the
Stillness practice could easily be taught within the
structure of all religious/philosophical organizations.
Should not their main purpose need to help you
develop your relationship with God and to grow
spiritually? Hopefully, at some future time they will
begin to recognize this is their true purpose. Then
they will develop courses, workshops and seminars
geared toward the practice of the Stillness. Until then
this is a practice you should develop on your own
because it will bring you closer to God. Think of it as
your personal religion which will self-empower you to
find the love, health and happiness you desire and
deserve.

Yes, having a personal relationship, in a living

faith/trust in God will change your life, but not in a
stranger negative way. It does not mean you have to
become an ascetic or give up material goods or
pleasures. It only means you will have a close
friendship and loving relationship with God. This
loving Father will help you be more loving toward
yourself and toward other people while you continue
your existence on this world in your material body. It
is really all quite simple. You now have the key. It is
up to you to unlock the door. How do you unlock it?
You set aside some time each day to spend with
God. What do you do? Talk with God, give thanks
and praise to Him. Still your mind and listen to God.
Feel His love. Feel His presence. Know this is what
every enlightened religious teacher has tried to
convey to humanity.
True spirituality is not about belief systems, rituals or
practices. It is about developing a faith relationship
with God. What could be more devastating to a
parent than for a child to ignore him? God, our
Father, loves us and seeks our love in return. God
shares His love with you, share your love with God.
You will be rewarded beyond your wildest
imagination by your efforts. You will be rewarded by
greater love, truth, goodness, compassion, tolerance,
faith, courage, patients, inner peace, wisdom, health
and happiness. These are the true treasures of life,
and yes, you will take them with you when you
journey onward.
You must decide after reading these words if what I
have said is true. How do you know? How can you
possibly assess what I have said unless you begin
the practice of Stillness to see for yourself if it brings
the results I have said it will. You can discuss and
theorize endlessly, but we are creatures who learn by
experience. Firsthand experience of the practice of
Stillness is what will tell you if these words are true.
All the discussion about it, who has practiced it and
why it hasn’t been taught are all, for the most part,
academic. Only experience will convince you. On a
firsthand experience of the God within will assure you
of His reality.
Just do it! Just give it a try. You will not be
disappointed. But you must be patient. In time it will
become a spiritual habit. Just as you would become
hungry if you went for a few days without eating, you
will find after a while you feel spiritually hungry if you
do not seek the Stillness. Seek the comfort and love
of God because you will find great strength, great
spiritual nourishment in this relationship. Before long
you will not want to miss your time with God. If you
have to for some reason, you will feel a little
disappointed because it becomes one of the true
highlights, if not the highlight, of your day. And why
not? Why would time spent in a loving relationship
with someone as loving and caring is God not be
something that is desirable? But now it is all words to
you and so there is only one way that you will know;
you must experience this yourself.
And so we conclude with the words with which we
began. The Stillness is the practice to help you
develop a personal relationship with God. This
relationship will bring you to the love, health and
happiness you desire. These are the words that are
the key to unlocking the door to a true knowledge of
God, a true living faith. “Be still, and know that I am
God”. I thank you for giving me this opportunity to
share my thoughts and experience with you. I bow to
the Spirit of God within you.