Monstaville Book I. Chapter 5

5

“Calamity, danger, death cannot be avoided for all time. They are inevitable factors of life and you have to learn to live bravely with them.”

- Sathya Sai Baba (Facets of the Divine Diamond, compiled by Seema Kundra, New Delhi, India, 1990, p.C-1).

A Vacation in Limitation.

“As has oft been written: ‘You are not human beings who have spiritual experiences. You are really spiritual beings who are having a human experience. You come here from a State of Being where you can, literally, do or have ANYTHING - just by thinking it. You come here to take a ‘vacation’ from all that power - in the same way the CEO of a huge business conglomerate decides to take a week ‘off’ and go work at a ‘Dude Ranch.’ You fret, you fume, you struggle, within whatever specific context of limitation you install yourself. All the while, you are having the time of your life (or lives)! Though the Veil of Forgetfulness quite effectively hides this wry motivation from your conscious mind, you are really a bunch of Cosmic Houdinis, who secretly revel in the amount of handicaps that you can overcome. When you are done with life's journey, you return to your former estate, where you will, once again, take up the divinity that is your heritage, your birthright. And my goodness! What pictures you'll have to show your friends!’ (As you can tell, the Process of Fragmentation continues, at many levels of vibration).” (Extract from ‘The Physicality of Ascension,’ a transmission from The Reconnections, www.reconnections.net/physicality_of_ascension.htm).

“Obstacles are like wild animals. They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can. If they see you are afraid of them...they are liable to spring upon you; but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink out of sight.” - Orison Swett Marden, founder of Success magazine.

“Most of our obstacles would melt away if, instead of cowering before them, we should make up our minds to walk boldly through them.” - Orison Swett Marden.

“Formulate and stamp indelibly on your mind a mental picture of yourself as succeeding. Hold this picture tenaciously. Never permit it to fade. Your mind will seek to develop the picture... Do not build up obstacles in your imagination.” - Norman Vincent Peale.

“Obstacles are necessary for success…victory comes only after many struggles and countless defeats. Yet each struggle, each defeat, sharpens your skills and strengths, your courage and your endurance, your ability and your confidence and thus each obstacle is a comrade-in-arms forcing you to become better…or quit. Each rebuff is an opportunity to move forward; turn away from them, avoid them, and you throw away your future.” - Og Mandino.

“Be grateful for who you are. Be grateful for who you are to become. Be grateful for the boulders placed upon your path. For they are not obstacles, but stepping stones on your journey to self-realisation.” – Joe Keane.

“Liberation means the power to transcend obstacles.” - Unknown.

“If you can find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn't lead anywhere.” - Frank A. Clark.

Sai Messages for You and Me. Volume II by Lucas Ralli - received in thought from Sai Baba. (Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust, Andhra Pradesh, India, 1987).

Obstacles.

p.86-87. What are obstacles? They are nothing! There are no obstacles that cannot be overcome.

                Obstacles are like stones on the path: you walk over them or around them. Never let them upset you. Never become involved with them in such a way that they become part of your life. Observe them and let them pass, for they do not belong to you.

                If obstacles continue to disturb you, offer them to the Lord and he will take care of them. He knows why they have come into your life. The Lord is always there to help you, if only you ask for His help.

                Man tends to live out his life in isolation. He loses contact with God and with his own innermost soul, the divine spark of the Absolute, the real Self. It is this state of isolation and separation which allows obstacles to appear on the path and to create problems which seem insoluble.

                My children, you are divine and there are no problems or obstacles which can touch or disturb you, once you realise your own divinity.

                Observe the calmness and tranquillity of the Lord Himself. Follow His example in your own life and see everything in the same way that He sees it: transient experiences, nothing that should distract you for one moment from the spiritual path.

                Never react to obstacles; simply walk round them or rise above them. Others may have created these obstacles in your path in the hope of trapping you, just as hunters trap innocent animals. But you have risen above the level of the animal kingdom and you have much knowledge and experience. Do not be affected by the actions of others, people who are still lost on their paths, not yet ready to move away from the lower levels where there problems originate. Their minds are still underdeveloped. Pray for them and know that one day they will rise out of the darkness and shine like stars in the night sky. The light already exists within and one day it will emerge out of the darkness.

                Evolution is a continual process, and all will find liberation in the end for all are divine. Try to recognise that divinity within, even when you witness people manifesting themselves at the lower levels, people who continually create problems for themselves and for others. Remember that those problems and obstacles do not really exist, except in the minds of those who are not ready to see them for what they really are: nothing. Yes, obstacles are nothing at all!

Problems.

p.88. What are problems? Whatever they are, they are all transient in relation to eternity and of no lasting consequence.

                If only you could learn to put your trust in Me, all your problems would be behind you. Surrender everything to Me and release yourself from the worries that torment you. Let all the aggravations pass you by on the other side of the road. Do not run into them as you are doing at present.

                The way ahead is clear. Never give up your responsibilities when temporary difficulties arise. Simply change your attitude to what is taking place and see everything as it really is, just transient and of no permanent consequence or importance. Surrender the problems to me for there are no problems which I cannot solve.

                Life should be full of joy and it will be if you live your life in complete harmony with God.

"The longer I live, the more I realise the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the education, the money, than circumstances, than failure, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church...a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude. I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. And so it is with you...we are in charge of our Attitudes." - Charles R. Swindoll.

"The mind is its own place, and in itself, can make Heaven of Hell, and a Hell of Heaven." - John Milton.

“There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hands. You seek problems because you need their gifts.” - Richard Bach (Illusions. The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah, Pan Books Ltd, London, U.K., 1977).

“Whatever the problem we have in our life, someone has faced it and overcome it.” - David DeNotaris.

“Argue for your limitations and, sure enough, they're yours.” – Richard Bach.

 

Facets of the Divine Diamond by Sathya Sai Baba (compiled by Seema Kundra, New Delhi, India, 1990).

B-9. “Be like the ant. When the ant gets a mixture of sand and sugar, it selects only sugar. It neglects the sand. See only good in others. Pay no attention to the bad.”

D-15. “Do not count your tears of pain. Do not pour over your grief. Let them pass through your mind as birds fly through the sky, leaving no trail behind, or as flames and floods appear in the screen in a picture house without singeing or clamping the screen.”

H-10. “Humanity is the higher, the upper. Divinity is the highest, the uppermost level. Humility is the best credential for success in life.”

H-10. “Human society minus God is equal to a forest of brutes.”

I-19. “If anybody blames you or abuses you or hurts you, do not do the same to him in return; when a dog bites a man, he does not bite the dog in return.”

I-31. “Impress others by your sweet speech, your humility, your universal love, your steady faith, your truthfulness.”

S-18. “Strength in a good man enables him to help the weak and serve society. Strength in a wicked person encourages him to cause harm to people and harass the weak.”

S-20. “Suffering entitles you more to the Grace of the Lord. When suffering comes in waves, one behind the other, be glad that the shore is near; bear them bravely. Like cowards, do not throw the blame on some outside power or develop dislike for the Lord.”

T-14. “The Lord does not test man just for fun. He does not pile calamity on calamity because he enjoys it. Examinations are held to measure achievement and award marks and honours. You must ask to be examined so that your progress may be recorded.”

Retrospective inserts.

"We have no right to ask when sorrow comes, ‘Why did this happen to me?’ unless we ask the same question for every moment of happiness that comes our way." - Author Unknown.

Abraham-Hicks states that when we look back at our problems we feel worse whereas when we look toward a solution we feel better. Improving our emotional condition is therefore part of the solution whereas dwelling on things gets us nowhere and is part of the problem.

“Nature loves courage. You make the commitment and nature will respond to that commitment by removing impossible obstacles. Dream the impossible dream and the world will not grind you under, it will lift you up. This is the trick. This is what all these teachers and philosophers who really counted, who really touched the alchemical gold, this is what they understood. This is the shamanic dance in the waterfall. This is how magic is done. By hurling yourself into the abyss and discovering it’s a feather bed.” - Terence McKenna.

Meador (Don Dubbins): Before I saw ya he-heaving those guards around I never seen a man handle himself like that. D-did you learn that in China?

Caine (David Carradine): Yes, and other things more important.

Meador: Like, what?

Caine: To celebrate every man’s life in my own.

                - Kung Fu (Season 1, Episode 12, ‘Superstition,’ 1973).

“When you despair at the many obstacles in your lives, switch tracks to what the future holds for you. Live the future now as far as possible and when you meet people who would pull you down, let their comments or actions leave you unaffected. They will soon get tired of your refusal to respond to their negativity. As time goes by you will find more and more you are drawn to people that are similar to your own vibrations. Soon you will only move within a specific circle of friends that share the same interests. It does not mean that you ignore others, as they may benefit from your help. Be on hand if you can share your knowledge with them, and measure it so that it meets their level of understanding. Remember that you are sailing in the same boat, but when the winds of change come some will have to change course. Your destination depends on how well you have prepared for the changes, but not everyone will move on to Ascension. The process has been in place for a long time, but now that it is speeding up you cannot lag behind if you are serious about Ascension. After all you have been through it is well worth every effort you can muster to cross the finishing line.” – SaLuSa (channelled through Mike Quinsey, 8 September 2010, www.gfbymikequinsey.blogspot.com).

“My sannyasins have to live a life of bliss - that is their meditation. They have to drop all seriousness, they have to become more playful. They have to look at life not as a problem but as a mystery. If you look at it as a problem you become serious because then a great temptation arises to solve it - and it is insoluble. It will lead you into more and more seriousness and into frustration and into sadness.” – Osho (www.oshoquotes.net/category/osho-quotes-on-sadness).

“No one can drive us crazy unless we give them the keys.“ - Doug Horton.

“I backed into a car this morning. So, there we are alongside the road and, slowly, the driver gets out of the other car. I couldn’t believe it: he was a dwarf! He storms over to my car, looks up at me and says, 'I AM NOT HAPPY!' So, I look down at him and say, 'Well, which one are you then?'…and that's when the fight started.” – Unknown.