They wanted no contributionsor dilutions from
Betty. The value of the thing offeredmust lie in itself, regardless of its
source.
It mortifies it just as the old ascetics used
tomortify the body. You have enfeebled the word God, they said. But if we are not to
strive for any definite results, I hear you say,what can we expect to
happen?
When that effort was withdrawn we droppedback
automatically.
But in that somewhere else sheretained her
faculties of thought.
As to what, definitely, this automatic action
produces must be left untillater.
But at first it is not easyto be loose-skinned and
natural. But thosesentences came to us almost literally one at a time over a period
of ayear and a half.
Better far to seek contact less often and keep its
eager andspontaneous freshness.
But as a method it was baffling, and laborious.
Empty the foreground of your mind, said the Invisibles.
You must soak it up,live in it, let it permeate
you, let it control you before it is yours.
That is what you have to be if youare not to cave
in, get crushed.
It is like the stakes youdrive to keep plants from
being blown around and broken. Now stop short and let thingsabout you into your
consciousness.
It doesnt matter how you symbolize it, but YOU MUST
HAVESOMETHING CONSTANT IN YOURSELF.
You were born with wings: why prefer to crawl
through life?
Above all its suitability to our own needs was
uncannilyaccurate.
In the meantime a dozen others had beenintroduced
and partially carried on.
A shout across to those on other tracksencourages
us to believe that they all converge.
That is theway, ninety-nine times out of a hundred,
you will find yourself if you goout for a walk. It mortifies it just as the old
ascetics used tomortify the body. First, it must bethoroughly realized that this
relaxation does not mean utter passivity. You must let go absolutely, said the
Invisibles, as though you werefalling through space. We must not only seethat it is
so: we must MAKE IT SO. That is theway, ninety-nine times out of a hundred, you will
find yourself if you goout for a walk. But there will bewith it an awful amount of
chaff for a few grains of wheat. This is so foreign to our everyday habit of
thinking that it is a littledifficult to express.
We want you to goonly as fast as you can develop.
Once the mental rush is checked in this way, space is created in which totake the
next step. I feel like a hod carrier climbinga ladder. Then thebasic logic of the
whole began to reveal itself as through a thinningfog. It is wonderful exploration,
a whole new country.
Better to stay asleep on earth, farbetter. At this
point two warnings should be emphasized. They may beexplained as you will, but they
exist. To catch a glimpse of greater possibilities let us return to ourillustrative
country walk.