CHAPTER 18

THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

I have never found a place where God was not already
there. Even when I did not recognize it, He was there.
It was my perception that needed correcting, not God’s.

Introduction
Much of the trick of keeping free and clear of
karma has to do with attitude, and this is such an
important concept that I am going to devote an
entire chapter to explaining it and showing how it
can be applied throughout your life.
There are very few things within our world that
are inherently “good” or “bad” except as we label
them. So if you are to stay free and clear, it is impor-
tant to place out as few judgments as possible and to
maintain as neutral an attitude as possible. To illus-
trate this idea, if you say you have had a lousy day,

1009
You cannot control your outer environment; you
can control yourself.

1010
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

be aware that you are placing that attitude of

“lousy” back on your consciousness, and you are
going to harvest that. It would be more accurate if
you said something like, “I felt pretty bad a number
of times today.” That is describing your state hon-
estly without placing a judgment of “lousy” on the
whole day.
It is valuable to evaluate–not judge–your position
every day. If you were going to buy stock, you would
probably want to evaluate the current market to
decide which stocks to buy. And, of course, you
would want to buy good stocks. But what is “good
stock” and what is “bad stock”? Naturally, good stock
is the stock that is going up in value and bad stock is
stock that is going down. “Good” and “bad” are
judgments, however, and “up” and “down” are
descriptions of what is happening. So you really want
to buy stock that is going up. But keep in mind that
the stock that is going down today might someday
go up, and then you would consider it good. So
“good” and “bad” are not absolutes, and, therefore,
they might be called illusions. All that is really hap-
pening is that the stocks are going up or down.
If you say a stock is bad and it starts back up, it
may be difficult for you to get on the bandwagon
and take full advantage because you will already

1011
You don’t fail. You just achieve whatever it is
you achieve. You create “failure” by setting
expectations that are never realistic and then
beating yourself up when you don’t fulfill them.
That’s called crazy, friends.

1012
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

have labeled it within yourself, and you may feel

you have to defend your position. So, for you, it may
never be good. But if you just observe which stock is
up and which is down and if you follow the trends,
then you are in a free position, ready to take advan-
tage of any opportunity you perceive with any stock
on the market. You have not blocked any possibility,
and the channels are all open.
A very similar process happens inside of you with
other things. If you label some things as bad and
then they start shifting and bringing forth some-
thing positive for you, it may be difficult for you to
participate in them because you have placed your-
self against them. For example, if you start a new
class and flunk your first test, you can either label
yourself as a failure and the teacher as no good, too
hard, and not fair, or you can simply be aware of the
fact that you received a failing grade on the first test
and use that experience and that knowledge to
point yourself in the direction of more study and
more preparation for your next test. But if you label
yourself as a failure, you may be creating future fail-
ure, and it may be difficult to pass the next exam,
and the next, and the next. And if you label the
teacher as no good, it may be difficult to meet the
assignments with a positive attitude and achieve any

1013
Observation is a matter of staying within your
own spiritual center, maintaining your awareness
of your self and of the spiritual power and pro-
tection available to you, and simply watching
what happens in the outer environment.

1014
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

success in the class. If you just use the failing experi-

ence to become a better student, it may be very easy
for you to pass the exams and the class.
Labeling and name-calling can have many ram-
ifications within your consciousness. If you have
called your spouse a dirty, no-good son of a gun or
some other name, it can be very difficult to turn
around the next minute and express love towards
that person. You have to get your negative creation
out of your system; you may need to vent your
spleen, go away somewhere and take a walk, get
drunk, or do something else. But what has really
happened? When you call your spouse a name, you
have judged against the love that you have placed
out for your spouse, and it hurts you. You have
rejected your own love, and you have rejected the
person to whom it went. You are hurt because you
have actually rejected yourself, and it takes time to
get over the judgment against your love. When you
judge others or yourself, you bring hurt that has to
be worked through and forgiven, so don’t hurt
yourself and don’t hurt others. Don’t judge.
Observation and Neutrality
There are very few things on this planet that can-
not be looked at in a matter-of-fact, straightforward

1015
Spiritual exercises are a tremendous key. They
may not solve anything for you, but they give you
the altitude to see more clearly. And as you see
more clearly, the solutions can appear.

1016
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

way. If you look at every point of view from a clear

consciousness, you can see value there. This is why
you can be right, your mother can be right, your
spouse can be right, the newspaper editorial can be
right, and so forth. All people can be right from
diverse positions. This does not necessarily mean that
you have to function from their position of rightful-
ness, but you can recognize that how they see things
is right for them. At the same time, you always have
the right to live your life the way you see it.
Holding true to yourself does not mean holding
true to the image of yourself. It means moving into
that which represents the greater truth in you, the
Soul. When you have moved into this, you find for
the most part that you are not in a position of argu-
ment or quarrel. Instead, you are in a position of look-
ing at people, of observing, of being neutral. And in
that neutrality, you will find that a sense of loving
flows out to them. If you find yourself feeling, “I don’t
like what you’re doing,” close your eyes or look
another way. Or look deep within yourself and find
out, “What is inside of me that disturbs me so much
when this person is around?” Then clear that up.
You have the potential to learn from everyone
you meet, and if that is your approach and attitude,
you will learn. There is truth in everyone’s expression,

1017
The process of observing what is so about your
life releases you from ego and allows the power
of God to flow through you. All you have to do
is open and say, “Lord, I receive. Thank You for
Your presence.”

1018
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

just as there is probably illusion in everyone’s expres-

sion. If you just observe and stay neutral and objective
in your evaluations of the circumstances, you can
bring to yourself those things that are currently of
value to you. You can also bypass those things that are
not currently of value to you without blocking the
possibility that they may be valuable to you in the
future. You just let all experiences flow through, and
what you want, you bring in. What you do not want,
you bypass–neutrally and nonjudgmentally.
In MSIA, we say to take care of yourself and take
care of others. This leads to objectivity in your con-
sciousness. We also say to not hurt yourself or others.
This also leads to objectivity. Objectivity is watching;
it is positive and loving. The objective point of view is
not cold and calculating. Rather, it is the free, loving
point of view. Similarly, neutrality is a progressive,
assertive statement of your being, without attach-
ment to results or to the process of getting someplace.
It is enough that you are there, enjoying things. No
matter what someone else does, you continue to
express from your loving heart. That is neutrality.
If you find that you are stuck in judgment and not
being neutral in a situation, one way to shift your atti-
tude is to look for the humor. Humor is especially
important in maintaining balance in this life, and so

1019
Being neutral doesn’t mean that you don’t care
for yourself and others. You can be loving and
caring and still be neutral. Neutrality comes
from a higher perspective that sees more of the
total picture and realizes that the highest good
may be served through ways that, at first glance,
may not appear to be positive and uplifting.

1020
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

much of what we take seriously is so funny. It is some-

times easier to see the humor when you are out of
this level than when you are caught in it, so take
every chance you get to reach up into the awareness
of Soul and perceive from that level. That spiritual
altitude can help you change your attitude. And
remember: if it will be funny later, it is funny now.
Flexibility
While you are here on this planet, get all you
can in the levels of your experience, in the levels
that bring forward your own unfoldment. As soon
as you grab for one thing, you are going to lose
something else because it is going to go by you. That
is why you keep yourself open and flexible, and you
just keep moving. As a new experience comes in,
you are right there to learn from it. You are not off
in your mind, regretting what happened in the past
or daydreaming about what might happen in the
future. You are here and now, and you keep moving
your position constantly into the here and now.
There is nothing permanent on the physical
level. Everything is in a state of change, so keep flex-
ible on this level while maintaining the precepts
that guide you. I say it like this: I am as steady as the
North Star and as flexible as the wind.

1021
 FULFILLING YOUR SPIRITUAL PROMISE

One of the things that is fairly permanent for

most of us on this level, for this lifetime, is being a
man or woman. Some things are just sort of there,
and it is nice to cooperate with those things. But
other things are more changeable. For example,
people say, “You changed your mind.” That is why
you have a mind–so you can change it. That is why
you practice changing, so you can change when it is
necessary. If you try to hold to a static position, you
may find out that in your strength of trying to be
self-determined and not bending even the slightest
bit, you crack and fall. Then you cry out in pain and
suffering. If you have the wit to see a tornado coming
and get out of the way, you will survive. But it can
become difficult when you say, “I’m just going to
stay right in the middle of this wind. I don’t care how
hard it’s blowing. I’ll be strong.” When you find you
cannot withstand it, you come back again and again,
learning to bring yourself into the flow of life.
One of the lessons to learn here is to be flexible
(which is different from being wishy-washy). There
is strength and wisdom in being flexible. It takes great
strength to change your position when that posi-
tion no longer is defensible and to say, “I defended a
position that is now not defensible.” If people say
you are wrong to change, you can answer, “If that’s

1022
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

the way you label it, okay. I just can’t defend that
position now. That’s where I am, and I am now mov-
ing my position.” If they tease and ridicule, do not
give in to their pressures and social blackmail.
Demonstrate your strength by maintaining the
change, the new position. Be willing to live your life
according to your true self, not what is happening
outside of you.
You do not have to trust anybody else if you
trust yourself. When people tell you something,
you can just say, “Well, that sounds good,” without
jumping into their information and without agree-
ing or disagreeing with what they say. You then take
whatever time you need to look at it carefully and
consider whether their information relates to you
and whether you can make it work for you. If you
can, use it. If not, let it go.
Guilt and Judgment
Whatever you decide to do, be sure you are
going to be happy about harvesting what you are
planting. Or are you going to be entering a situation
that will cause guilt and cause you to come back to
this realm and work it out again? Do not enter into
any situation that causes even a little twinge, where
you feel, “Oh, I wasn’t all that honest.” That is guilt.

1023
To release your guilt, it is important to admit it.
Recognize that you feel the guilt, identify why
you feel it, and then forgive yourself for it.
Realize that you did the best you could at the
time with what you knew and where you were.
Then let it go. There’s nothing more you can do.
When you do that, with love for yourself and the
others involved, you’ll be free.

1024
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

No matter how thin you slice baloney, you still have

baloney. No matter how small the guilt, it is still
guilt. The degree of it is important because the more
guilt you feel, the more you intensify your existence,
and the more intensity you place on this existence,
the more you lock yourself into the force-field of
this planet. Then you have to come back into that
force-field and evolve again.
Guilt is often accompanied by judgment, and
judging is probably the one pattern that can hurt us
the most. Jesus told us, “Judge not, lest you be
judged.” The very process of judging is against the
Christ Consciousness, and self-judgment is the most
terrible thing we can do to ourselves because it tries
to evict the consciousness of the Christ inside us.
It is hard not to run righteousness against some-
body’s body, and it is so important to understand
this: bodies are not to be judged, nor are body activ-
ities to be judged, because they are not enlightened,
they are not illumined, they are not God, and they
are not Divinity. Therefore, they are in ignorance.
This is why we do not judge each other. If someone
hurts you, you do not need to feel hurt; instead, you
can say, “That was just ignorance.” At that moment,
you become immune to the personality behaviors
of other people. But the mind cannot hold that

1025
How do you get out of the cycle of negative
judgment? Consecrate your life to God, to
Spirit, and do everything in God’s name.

1026
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

because the illusions of the negative power will

throw up the idea that “this is real.” It is real, but it
is ignorant; therefore, it is not true in Spirit. It is just
the ignorance of this level and the illusions that go
with it that make it appear real.
This level is not to be judged. To stop the judg-
ing, you go inside to find the Spirit and then live in
and from it more and more. But as soon as you open
your eyes to the world, your eyes are always hun-
gry, and they seek that which will fulfill them. One
day you may say, “Oh, God, help,” and God says,
“Come inside,” and you may be taken up very high
so that you do, in truth, see the Spirit. Then, when
you come down and you open your eyes, your eyes
are hungry again because they are always hungry.
But at least you know where there is another table
from which to eat. And so you suffer your ignorance
of this level and go to the perfection of the Spirit
that exists forever.
God consciousness is present all the time, and
nothing happens that is outside God. All things
come from God. Even the things that appear to be
evil, bad, and terrible are part of God. Even mur-
ders? Yes. Even rapes? Yes. God does not do these
things, however. People do them, but God is aware
of these actions. You cannot judge because you

1027
 FULFILLING YOUR SPIRITUAL PROMISE

never know the history of the individuals involved

and how they are balancing things out. Perhaps
some of these things that seem horrendous are the
last experiences the people need before they go to
the Kingdom of Heaven. If you do not know the
total patterns of a person’s current incarnation as
well as all their other embodiments, there is no way
you can judge that person. You just have to observe
their actions and love them for who they are, not
for what they do. And if you do not know your own
history in its totality, you cannot judge yourself. So,
love yourself as well.
Always, keep coming back to love and forgive-
ness. You can even forgive yourself for judging your-
self for being judgmental. You can forgive yourself for
forgetting to forgive yourself. Forgiveness is the key.
Forgiveness takes you to love, and love is of God.
As you go through your life, all you have to do
is evaluate any situation. Do not place a judgment
or a moralistic value on it. (The stock is not good or
bad; it is going up or down.) The personality has
morals and will judge you and others, and the ego
often does not know what is happening, although it
will try to give the impression that it does. The ego
is an individualized aspect that will create separa-
tion. If you can use your objective observation to

1028
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

correct the ego’s false impression, you can continue

your progression. But if you hold on to the ego and
defend its position, even against all evidence, you
are not serving your own best interests, and you can
get stuck in moral judgments.
In the Soul, there is no morality; there just is.
The Soul is attempting to get through all these lev-
els of the seeds and weeds the person has planted.
This is why it sometimes takes a long time for peo-
ple to go back through all the acreage in which they
have sowed their wild oats and do all the weeding
and clearing of the land and the reclaiming of the
good soil before they can move forward on their
spiritual path.
You are on your way if you are dropping those
things that are not needed. And you do not have to
add more. A lot of people are trying to add more–to
read more, to do more, to work more, to play more.
Other people are realizing that they have to unlearn
much that they learned in school, in church, in
society, in parental relationships, and so forth. It can
take some real soul-searching to discover what does
and does not work for you. Wisdom is using those
things that work for you, for as long as they work
for you, and letting go of the things that are not
working for you.

1029
Negativity, depression, irritation, anxiety, and
nervousness are all working for you, saying,
“My dear friend, open your eyes; these things
aren’t lifting your consciousness.” There can be
value in fear and anxiety and depression. They
can shock you into the recognition that things
aren’t working.

1030
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

As you release all the old things that are on you–

old habits, negativity, attachments, desires, whatev-
er you call them–you can stand free. In standing
free, you will move automatically from this exis-
tence into the next. If you do not get high enough in
your freedom, you will come back to Earth again to
gain more freedom in order to go higher. You will
choose to come back because, from the spiritual
vision, you can see how you can do it so perfectly,
experience so much, learn so much, and go so high.
So you come back, and you may lose much of the
vision as you get caught up once more in the illu-
sions of this world. But it is very nice to know that
regardless of how you perceive your life or how you
perceive the cosmos, it is all in its right place, doing
the right thing, performing absolutely correctly.
Even that little sense of depression, despair, anger,
hurt, jealousy–even that can be an awakener for
you. You can awaken from that into greater aware-
ness and then lift higher. That is the attitude that
can lead you towards your greater freedom.
The Soul embodies on the earth to gain experi-
ence. When you have had an experience, you do not
have to repeat it, unless you recreate it. In MSIA, we
say to use everything for your upliftment, growth,
and learning. If you learn from everything that

1031
It’s important to understand that growing is not
necessarily equated with having a smooth week.

1032
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

happens, if you use everything as an opportunity to

learn and to lift yourself, you will be earning your
freedom. So learn from the experience of your life.
Set your goals high and go for them, and do not let
anyone or anything sidetrack you. Create only the
very best things for yourself.
Q&A About Attitude
Q: How can I change my attitude?
A: One way is to ask yourself in any situation,
“How would Christ see this?” Another is to remem-
ber that there is no urgency in Spirit. Try on both of
these–work with them–and see the effect of them on
your attitude towards your life, yourself, and others.
Q: How can I move out of righteousness and
taking positions?
A: Don’t just disagree, but come up with work-
able solutions for whatever situation you are in where
you are taking a position and feeling self-righteous.
Giving possible solutions almost guarantees the
destruction of righteousness and position-taking.
This also gets you out of control. If someone
comes to you and asks how something could be done,
give them at least three options. That automatically
takes your ego out. And if the person doesn’t do any

1033
 FULFILLING YOUR SPIRITUAL PROMISE

of the three, you are more likely to think, “I guess

that didn’t matter.” You come into detachment
because your attitude is saying, “Whatever you do, I
love you. You don’t have to do what I tell you to do.
Do what you want to do.” And no matter what a per-
son does, the Soul is going to make it, this lifetime or
some other time, because not one Soul will be lost.
Q: What if I have said something negative–
like a judgment–and then I realize that that is
not what I want to place out?
A: You can say “deflect” in the next sixty seconds
to cancel it so it won’t stick. And if you need to do
any forgiveness, that’s a great time to do it, also.
Q: How can I learn to stay in my peace more
consistently?
A: Keep a safe place inside of you for everything
that is said to you or about you or that you say. Have
no attachments to anything that comes in or goes out.
That means to have an attitude of nonjudgmental
acceptance of it all.
Q: If everything is perfect, why do I have
doubt, desire, and fantasies?
A: The earth is a place where the Soul can gain
experience, which is why Souls take on physical

1034
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

bodies and come here. The Soul is perfect, but it is

not totally experienced. Part of experiencing is to
find out what doubt, desire, fantasy, etc., are all
about. The more you can observe those things
when they are there in you, the more you will begin
to understand how they work and to get free of
them. And getting free is not making them disap-
pear forever. It is not letting them run you.
Q: How can I evaluate something without
judging it?
A: Judgment is different from evaluation.
Judgment would be, “I become the reference point,
and no one else has any say-so.” For example, I judge
if I say, “You’re too short.” “Too” becomes a judg-
ment. If I say, “You’re five-foot eight,” that becomes
an evaluation of your height. One is a judgment,
and the other is observation and evaluation. If I
stand by you and say, “Well, he’s a little taller than I
am,” that’s just evaluation. I didn’t say, “I’m too
short,” which is a judgment. I just said, “He’s a little
taller than I am.”
Edison invented the light bulb, and supposedly it
took him one thousand tries before he succeeded. If
he had judged the first attempt, he might not have
tried the second time, and so on. So, all he did was

1035
There is no way under the sun that you can rise
to God consciousness and maintain any form of
contempt. It will block you. Having contempt
for God is having contempt for all things. And
if you have contempt for your father or your
daughter or for a boss or a table or a race of peo-
ple or a hair style, then you have contempt for
the great God that is in all things.

1036
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

differentiate: he noted that the first one did not

light up. He found a thousand ways that the light
bulb does not work. When he found the one that
did, someone might have said to him, “Why did you
waste one thousand steps?” They were not a waste.
They were going towards the end result. Edison’s
ability to differentiate and not judge allowed the
Spirit to keep glowing through him until the com-
pletion appeared. That became the enlightenment.
The thing you object to is what is stopping you
from seeing your face of enlightenment and from
seeing the face of God. The thing you dislike, the
thing you don’t like about yourself, the thing you
judge and would most like to have gone–that is
what you must embrace. And once you have a rela-
tionship with God, you’re fulfilled. You can see the
rightfulness of everyone’s patterns, and so you no
longer have to sit in judgment and hold negativity
towards yourself or anyone else.
Negativity
We all have some habitual patterns where we
focus on the negative, get involved in the negative,
and get fascinated by it. That is one of the elements
that negativity has in our consciousness–fascination.
It has attraction and glamour, and it holds our

1037
 FULFILLING YOUR SPIRITUAL PROMISE

attention. It is allowed to have energy that our con-

sciousness responds to, but we are larger than what-
ever the negativity is. So we always have the ability to
transcend it. The more you know how the negativity
works and the more you can direct yourself towards
overcoming it, the less the negativity impacts on you.
You may find that you are simply directing your
energy into what serves you, into who you are.
Negativity is basically contraction. Physically, we
pull ourselves down inside, bite down on the jaws, or
focus intently on something. Emotionally, for exam-
ple, we will not love the one we married or are with.
We withhold our joy. We deny ourselves our emo-
tional feelings, which can look like this: we see some-
body we like, and we will not let them see how we
feel inside. We hold our face rigid and dare them to
see what is going on inside. Mentally, we say bad
things to ourselves: “I’m no good. My spouse is no
good. My children are no good. My car is no good.
My job is no good. The food is no good.” We convince
ourselves mentally, and the mind closes down. When
we contract mentally, emotionally, and physically,
we are setting ourselves up for imbalance and illness.
The way to move into the positive is to expand.
And the biggest thing that changes the negative
into the positive is the willingness to change. No

1038
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

one is going to do it for you; you have to do it your-

self. The Traveler will go through it with you and
hold with you, but you must make the change, and as
soon as you turn inside, the Traveler is there support-
ing the positive. It is amazing that each time you
move your attitude from the negative to the positive,
it gets easier and easier, and pretty soon you are
spending most of your time in positive patterns.
It is worshiping false idols to worship your nega-
tive expressions or behavior. You may say, “Oh, my
God, I feel so ashamed, I got angry, I really messed up,
I’m so depressed,” and you worship those false things.
But you can cast them down and just say, “No, I don’t
worship that anymore. That may come upon me at
times, and I’m just going to let it pass through and
keep my eyes on the Lord.” And it really is an affir-
mation: “I’m keeping my eyes on You, Lord, just You.
I’m going to look at other people, but I’m keeping my
eyes on You. I’m keeping the inner vision on You.”
Suffering
Most of us at one time or another ask why there
is so much suffering in the world and, even closer
to home, why we ourselves suffer. Suffering is the
result of attachment. Attachment is the result of
desire. Desire is the result of not feeling whole and

1039
Each day, as you go through your trials and
tribulations, you might realize in thankfulness
that every time you have a pain of any nature, a
pain of regret, sorrow, guilt, or fear, you are
attempting to shake yourself awake from the
illusions that you have allowed to be perpetrated
upon you or the illusions that you have placed on
yourself.

1040
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

complete. Not feeling whole and complete is the

result of not being in contact with God. So, suffer-
ing is obliterated by finding God, and that is what
I teach.
Looked at that way, we can see that suffering is an
attitude–a point of view and a point of identification.
We all have experienced suffering in our ego, which
generally suffers when it cannot get its own way and
have the things it wants–when it wants them and the
way it wants them. In short, the ego creates its own
suffering out of its own desires and demands.
The Soul, however, does not suffer. Instead, it
looks at every situation as an opportunity to get
more experience. When we look at things from the
point of view of a level other than the Soul, or when
we identify with something other than the Soul, we
can experience suffering. When we identify with the
Soul (which is who we truly are) and when we look
at things from the Soul’s viewing point and really
know the truth of that, we can have the joy of the
Spirit in the midst of suffering on another level (for
example, grief, physical pain, etc.).
We do not have to suffer to get to God, yet our
suffering can serve a purpose because it can make us
so uncomfortable that we may say, “There must be
something different,” and we may turn to God. The

1041
There are thousands of people studying with the
Mystical Traveler who are saying, “In this
freedom and love you’re bringing forward–even
though the situation hasn’t cleared and it’s still
a garbage pile–I now realize it’s compost. I just
let a lot of things grow and use them to a great
advantage.”

1042
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

ego and the personality are restricted consciousness-

es, and they cannot go into God, although God can
come into them. When we begin to give up those
restricted consciousnesses and their demands and
desires, we may feel pain and suffering on those levels,
but it is only because we are still holding on to the
restriction and not moving into the freedom of Spirit.
This does not mean that you should become
indifferent to people’s suffering or that their pain is
not real. Through feeling the pain of others, we can
become more compassionate and be moved to
assist. When it is in your power to ease another’s
pain, do that. This would be with the people directly
in your life, the people you are around, and some-
times that could be just being friendly and speaking
kindly, offering someone a ride, listening with
acceptance to someone talk, putting yourself in
another’s shoes. You may also, of course, feel called
to assist others beyond your immediate sphere.
When you look at the larger picture–the entire
planet–or a particularly difficult situation someone
is in, look at it through the higher perspective,
which is that this is a planet designed for learning
and balancing karma. The Souls that choose to come
here are both privileged and strong. It takes strength
for a Soul even to come to and live on this level and

1043
Grief and pain are not your enemies. Don’t
shield yourself from those experiences. They can
be times of great blessing, times when you are
facing the truth deep within your consciousness
and letting go of all that is not truth.

1044
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

to put itself in line to get the lessons that life on the

planet offers, but it is also a blessing because so much
karma can be cleared from this level. Also remember
that from the perspective of the Soul, it is all just
experience–neither good nor bad. That attitude can
go into callousness, so that is why you need to keep
compassion in your heart. But compassion without
the higher spiritual understanding can lead to emo-
tionalism and being “too” involved in the pains of
this level. It is a balance that you will need to find for
yourself as you go through life.
One thing you can always do to assist is to love it
all–the situation, the people involved, your own
distress or upset, the whole thing. Say that you are
upset over the violence in the world. When you are
in any kind of distress over that, you are “in it.”
When you can expand beyond it (that is, rise above
it), you can bring in the love. Those are not just
words. In your consciousness, you actually move
above and expand beyond it. You turn from your
thoughts about it and your emotions over it, and
you go into the greater part of yourself (the Christ,
the Traveler), where there is only love for every-
thing–the violence, the people who perpetrate it,
those who are on the receiving end of it, your distress
over it, your judgments that it is even allowed–

1045
I maintain the physical body here, walking
through this world that I would call oppressive,
while I live in Spirit, which I would call free-
dom. And all I do is keep bringing the freedom
into this level.

1046
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

everything. Only through more loving can more

things be healed.
If, on some level, you feel responsible for what is
happening in the world, you can let that go. Your
feeling the pain of the world does not decrease
the pain. But your loving in the midst of pain can
only help.
When we live in the Spirit, we feel joy, no mat-
ter what is going on, and I also doubt if any of us in
a physical body lives in a high, ecstatic state of joy all
the time. So if your level of joy is down, does that
mean that something is off spiritually? No, it just
means you are not feeling the joy of the Spirit. If
you are working through a lot of things karmically
and there are lessons to be learned, you may not
experience joy, because sometimes we do not learn
much in joy, being oblivious to the lessons that are
presented because we are so joyful. Most of us have
learned more through suffering than we have
learned through joy–or even through mediocrity
or mundaneness. Almost always, you will find that
the suffering is your attachment or the fear of
breaking the attachment.
I would say that the value of suffering is in not
doing what you did before, and I have seen over the
years that once a person gets sick and tired of being

1047
 FULFILLING YOUR SPIRITUAL PROMISE

tired and sick, they change, and a change of attitude

is often the first step. You can use your pain and
suffering to show you where you need to love and
forgive more. Used like this, pain and suffering can
be stepping-stones to your greater freedom.
Q&A About Suffering
Q: You said that “suffering is the result of
attachment. Attachment is the result of desire.”
Does that mean I shouldn’t desire anything?
A: What I’m talking about is desiring something
or someone to the degree that you feel you couldn’t
live without it–a consuming depth of desire. Desire
is part of the human condition and part of living on
this planet. Keeping our wants and desires in per-
spective so that they are not running us (in other
words, we stay in balance with them) is the way to
effectively deal with desires.
Q: I am afraid to desire something, even if I
say “for the highest good,” because I don’t
want to get into a desire pattern.
A: Wanting something and putting it in the
Light doesn’t automatically create a desire pattern.
It’s when you desire something to the point of total
distraction that a desire pattern can be created.

1048
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

When you ask for the Light for the highest good in
relation to something you want, it is then also
important to let it go and forget about it. Just trust
that if it’s for the highest good, it will come forward,
and if it isn’t, it most likely won’t. Asking “for the
highest good” is like a safety net because you are
leaving it up to God. This sets in motion only that
which is for your highest good.
Q: How can I desire things in the world less?
A: When you think you have to have something
out there in the world, stop and ask yourself, “How
do I look through the eyes of God to see if that is for
me?” The gaze of God will start appearing within
you. The way will appear before you. The Light will
go ahead of you, and you will know your direction.
Q: There are so many things that I don’t
understand about myself and the world. It all
seems overwhelming. Where do I start?
A: Start with your next breath, and take one step
at a time. If, when you look at yourself, you see so
many things you want to change that it’s over-
whelming, you might never start. So start with one
thing. And when you have succeeded with that, you
may decide to take on the next. Everything doesn’t
have to be changed overnight. Be patient with

1049
Societies will fall many, many times in the evo-
lution of the planet, and governments will come
and go; that is the nature of this planet. But the
Spirit stays forever. The key is to reach always
into the Spirit for the highest good of all and
perceive all situations from that point.

1050
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

yourself, keep loving yourself, and give yourself

credit for the steps you are taking.
The same holds true when you look at “the state
of the world.” Start with yourself. Bring yourself
into line first–one step at a time. Taking care of
yourself or changing yourself could have profound
effects on the rest of the world. But remember that
you are not responsible for changing the entire
world. Your main responsibility is to yourself.
Q: Does desiring anything produce karma
and, if so, how can I learn to live in such a way
as to dissolve karma?
A: Live your life as lovingly as you can and apply
the teachings in your life, and the Traveler will han-
dle the rest.
Discouragement
Discouragement can be the one thing that keeps
a person from progressing spiritually. Everyone has
times of discouragement–it just seems to be part of
our being here on the planet–and the basic way to
handle discouragement is to do spiritual exercises as
consistently as possible. Even 10 minutes a day can be
a big help. It also helps to do some physical exercise
because that can get the energy moving, which

1051
Do whatever is necessary to change depression
and discouragement to the positive energy of
fun and laughter. Go to a funny movie. Go out
with some friends and have a good time. Tell
yourself jokes. Tickle yourself. Sing. Chant.
Start laughing.

1052
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

breaks through discouragement. So does being

around others who are working with the Light.
Even as you are going through times that feel
confused and discouraging, the Traveler is with you
and loves you. That longing for peace and content-
ment that comes in times of discouragement can be
the prod that helps you grow spiritually, for the
peace you want is the peace of your own Soul. So
love yourself and do the things that support you,
that lead you to the true peace within you. It is
there, and you find it by holding it as your vision,
much as you might hold the vision of a completed
project as you are working on it.
At some point, you will choose to let go of your
discouragement, and at some point you will choose
to be happy again. If you are going to be happy later,
why not be happy now? If you are going to be loving
later, why not be loving now? In this, as in all the
things you feel, think, do, and experience, your atti-
tude is the key.
Q&A About Discouragement
Q: I’ve been really depressed for the past six
months or so. Do you have any suggestions?
A: It sounds like you may be dealing with
something beyond the discouragement that each of

1053
If you’re going to scrub the floor, do it as a
dance. The Soul can be dancing through the
mop, the brush, and the water, and scrubbing the
floor can become a joyful expression of Spirit.
You can approach anything and everything you
do with Spirit–100 percent.

1054
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

us has from time to time. I’d suggest you see a doc-

tor to get checked out physically, in case there is
something out of balance physically that is causing
or contributing to the depression. I’d also suggest
that you talk with a licensed therapist or psycholo-
gist, someone who is trained to help people deal
with chronic depression.
Q: I went to an MSIA retreat and had a beau-
tiful time. Now I’m back in my regular life, and
things look bleak to me. They aren’t anything
like what I experienced at the retreat. I’m an ini-
tiate, and my goal is Soul Transcendence. Why
can’t I hold the level of awareness and loving
that I experienced at the retreat? It sometimes
seems hopeless.
A: Sometimes when you go to an MSIA event,
you lift very high. Then you go back to your regular
life, and it can be quite a letdown. Some people feel
intense anger. Some people, like you, feel discouraged
and hopeless. It’s the contrast that can get to you. It’s
like you’ve tasted a little bit of heaven and then you
get plunked back down on Earth with all its prob-
lems–and you don’t like it. Then, when you get more
acclimated to it, it doesn’t seem so bad, and you pick
up and go on. The key is to love yourself through the

1055
It is always important to keep in mind that
nothing exists that is not part of God and that
nothing can happen that is not “right” and
“proper.” So, there is never anything to fear.
Nothing can happen that is not, ultimately, for
the education, experience, and upliftment of
those involved.

1056
 THE IMPORTANCE OF ATTITUDE

whole process and keep in mind that the goal of Soul

Transcendence you’ve set for yourself has many
aspects to it and that there is much work to do. Just
keep on keeping on.
Q: No matter what I do, I always have the feel-
ing that I could have done better. What’s going on?
A: The consciousness can be compared to an
onion: layer upon layer upon layer. You peel off one
layer of experience and discover another layer. So you
may sometimes find that the way you handled some-
thing, in what seemed to be the best way you could at
a given time, in retrospect seems inadequate–because
you have grown and discovered another layer within
yourself that allows for a better solution. That feeling
of “I could have done better” really points up your
growth. You can view that as a positive step, not as a
reason for discouragement. Just keep moving. As
long as you are still present on this earth, you will
keep discovering more and more layers to work
through–thank God. It’s your process of unfoldment
and evolvement into God.

1057