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A Modern Mystic |
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A Modern Mystic |
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Vernon Howard was an American author and spiritual teacher who presented the Wisdom of the Ages in the language of today. He is especially known for his clear, direct explanation of the cause of every human problem — and the sure cure. His practical approach has shown millions how to bring the power of Truth into their daily lives.
Vernon Howard was born in Massachusetts in 1918. He began his writing career early in life and by 1965 was writing best sellers like The Mystic Path to Cosmic Power, and The Power of Your Supermind. Published by Prentice Hall for decades, these books and others are classics in the field of inner development. His readership is estimated to be at least eight million people in several different languages.
In the 1970's Vernon Howard founded a school for authentic spiritual development called New Life Foundation . (See www.anewlife.org ). People traveled from all over the world to hear him speak. He continued to write and teach at New Life Foundation until his death in 1992. New Life Foundation is a bright place that continues disseminating his teachings today.
Thousands of new readers a year discover Vernon Howard for the first time. Few authors have published so rich a harvest of eternal truths, expressed with such clarity and simplicity.
Here are a few samples of his brilliantly clear expression of the Great Truths of the Ages:
1. "Try to see the difference between mere mental improvement and the development of cosmic consciousness. Mental improvement is good and legitimate, as when learning a profession or sharpening your skill at chess. However, mental improvement cannot penetrate the psychic world to make you happier, freer, or intelligent in the cosmic sense. To store facts away in the memory is like feeding information to a mechanical computer. The computer can only repeat what it has been told and nothing more. But consciousness - awareness - is always something new. It is never the mechanical parroting of memorized information.
"We do not USE the Supermind, as if it were one thing and we another. As mystics have proclaimed throughout the ages, MAN AND COSMIC INTELLIGENCE ARE ONE. In essence, a man IS his Supermind. Your aim is to be one with yourself." (From The Power of Your Supermind)
2. "Here is a psychological fact to understand: A weak person will try to drain the strength of a stronger individual. There are dozens of tricks by which the weak one will attempt to draw power to which he is not entitled: He may chatter endlessly, unload a sense of guilt through accusing another, boast, ask personal questions, and so on. Be alert to this. Refuse absolutely to let anyone drain your energies. At a certain point in your psychic development you can walk among the weakest of men and be the strongest of men.
"Be very careful that you do not unconsciously assume that nervous tension is power. This is vital. Watch yourself the next time you work toward some goal. Look very closely to discover tense feelings and nervous thoughts whirling around inside. Do not let them deceive you into assuming that they are creative forces; they are not. They are thieves of genuine powers. As always, your awareness of their thievery is your first fine step toward casting them out.
The Magic Castle --"Here’s a secret method for replacing fog with sunshine. When you feel scared, don’t pretend you’re brave. Truth gives you permission to be just as scared as you really are. Just be aware of your anxiety without worrying over it. This self-help not only banishes fear but delivers great relief. It is like a tired actor who removes his uncomfortable costume after a hard night onstage. Since he no longer needs to impress the audience he can just relax and enjoy being himself." (from Your Power of Natural Knowing)
The Secret of Self-Observation "You can be totally different. You can have an excitement that never swings over to depression. It is the true excitement of finding yourself. Nothing is more exciting than to watch a fear fade from your mind forever. Nothing is more delightful than to possess self-command in a world of chaos. There is no greater inspiration than to know that you have found the true path at last.
Psychic Sleep "Psychic sleep is the cause of every human problem and disaster. It is sleeping people who suffer from heartache and loneliness, from fear and violence. Only self- awakening can end these sorrows. However – and please emphasize this point in your mind – man does not know he is asleep. So deep is his immersion in psychic hypnosis, that he instantly denies his actual condition. In other words, he does not know that he does not know. He spends his entire life under the gigantic illusion of being happy and productive, never once facing the terror in which he lives. Man huddles fearfully in a haunted house which he calls a castle. Have you ever been in a room full of people when someone behaved foolishly or childishly? You sensed that he did not know how he appeared to others. In fact, he may have believed he was behaving cleverly or courageously. Everyone in the room saw him as he really was, except the man himself. That is a perfect example of human hypnosis, of psychic unawareness. The ancient philosopher, Socrates, provided a classic illustration of man’s mental sleep. He told about a group of men who were huddled together in a deep cave. Their only light was a fire that blazed in the center of the cavern. The fire cast strange shadows against the wall of the cave, frightening the prisoners. So the men sat there in terror and confusion. One of the prisoners made up his mind to explore the cave. When doing so, he found a secret tunnel. Following it all the way, he finally found himself in the outer world of sunshine and beauty.
"We will now look at a chief characteristic of spiritual sleep. When this is under- stood, all the pieces of life fall into place, revealing the whole picture. Man has a false idea of who he is. He has an illusory sense of identity. This false self is manufactured out of self-flattering imaginations and out of self-pleasing labels. He labels himself as a successful man, or as an intelligent thinker, or as a human being with lofty motives. But these are mere ideas he has about himself and he is not these ideas. We can easily prove this. Whenever a man feels depressed or irritated, it is simply because his false identity seems not to be confirmed. Both these reactions are false, so man is their slave. Have you ever noticed how nervous people get when their pet ideas are challenged? Let this be a clue for you. By patient self-investigation we discover who we are not, and that ends the anxiety of not knowing who we are. To summarize this vital point, man wrongly believes that he possesses a separate self, an individual ego. This false idea causes fear, loneliness, neurosis. It throws him into conflict with other people who are also under the illusion of having separate selves. No man is apart from the whole, from the all. Man is one with the universe. Human beings are like dozens of ponds, each reflecting the light from the same moon. This is not philosophy, this is fact." (from The Esoteric Path to a New Life )
Conquer Anxiety and Frustration Take Charge of Life - "When meeting any situation in life, one of two things happens: 1. The situation takes charge of you 2. You take charge of the situation It is one or the other. There is no third choice. So it is important to examine both of them. When a situation takes charge of you, it is always accompanied by a feeling of anxiety. Listen to this discomfort, for it is trying to teach you something valuable. It may be trying to reveal that you are imagining yourself to be in command of the situation, when in fact you are commanded by it. Exposing imaginary self-power is highly helpful."
50 Ways to See Thru People Change of Nature - "Have you ever been nice to someone in order to keep him in your life, only to see him suddenly turn against you? Being nice to someone, pleasing him, has no influence whatever in changing his nature from bad to good. It is useless and unnecessary to try to change others, for nature-change must include self-change. You will never again waste your days or be betrayed if you remember that you have no real need for a harmful or sour man or woman."
Your Power to Say NO Expose These Yes-Traps - "We learn to escape from self-defeating behavior in small ways at first. You can do this by thinking of present situations where you now say YES but wish you could stop. Recall several small situations. Perhaps you have agreed to meet regularly with a friend or relative but realize that it is really a burden. Maybe you agreed to take the leadership in a certain project but now you wish you had declined. You now know WHERE you must say NO. The next step is also clear. SAY NO. Make the necessary contact and resign. Just like that. Do it even if you feel nervous about it. Don’t listen to your timidity. Do what is right. Do you know what you are doing! You are getting your life back!"
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Vernon Howard broke through to another world. He saw through the illusion of suffering and fear and loneliness. From 1965 until his death in 1992 he wrote books and conducted classes which reflect a degree of skill and understanding that may be unsurpassed in modern history.
Human Behavior Magazine said of him, “Vernon Howard is probably the clearest writer on these subjects in the English language.” His warmth and refreshing sense of humor made him a delightful subject for interviews, talk shows and articles. In 1983 Michael Benner of station KLOS in Los Angeles, California said, “Vernon Howard is one of the most powerful speakers I have ever interviewed. He has an uncanny ability to cut through the fluff and puff and jolt people into seeing who they really are. At times humorous and gentle,at other times demanding and forceful. Vernon Howard holds the record for generating responses to our KLOS talk shows. Not everyone likes his message, but I can’t imagine anyone turning him off.”
"Vernon Howard is an island of sanity in a confused world."
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