In the attached video, A.A. pioneer, Chuck C. (author of "A New Pair of Glasses") shares his insights into living "A Spiritual Way of Life" with a non-alcoholic audience of students at the University of California.
"I don't think we have a life of our own, and I don't think we have a mind of our own," he tells his audience. "I think there is one life with many faces, (and) one mind common to all men. And you and I have our identity in It. We have our identity in life.
"We are," he says, "individualized centers of God-consciousness."
"You cannot change the reality of your own being," he notes, "you can only change your experience in reality. . . . We can change our experience, but we can't change the reality of our own being."
"(O)ur own peace of mind, serenity and purpose," he observes, "cannot depend upon any person, place, circumstance or condition outside ourselves. (This) depends only on our own relationship to our very own God."
"And," he points out, "its an inside job!"
"I don't think we have a life of our own, and I don't think we have a mind of our own," he tells his audience. "I think there is one life with many faces, (and) one mind common to all men. And you and I have our identity in It. We have our identity in life.
"We are," he says, "individualized centers of God-consciousness."
"You cannot change the reality of your own being," he notes, "you can only change your experience in reality. . . . We can change our experience, but we can't change the reality of our own being."
"(O)ur own peace of mind, serenity and purpose," he observes, "cannot depend upon any person, place, circumstance or condition outside ourselves. (This) depends only on our own relationship to our very own God."
"And," he points out, "its an inside job!"
...this is really good rabbi!..Chuck C.'s talk reminds me of some of the teachings i've read in the works of some of the pioneers of 20th century mystical thought such as Eric Butterworth,Ernest Holmes and even Emily Caddy..
ReplyDeleteHe does make it clear that our problem (alcoholic addict and non-addict alike) is the duality and seeming separation of the ego-self. Chuck C. was a close friend of Ernest Holmes before Chuck sobered up, which shows that "we are always returning" as Coleman Barks says.
ReplyDeleteButterworth's "Discover the Power Within You" was given to me by my "spiritual mentor", Chuck W. It was the first book of a spiritual nature (incl. all the books published by A.A.) that I could accept with a truly open mind and without discounting its message because of what I could not, or would not, understand. At right about the same time (i.e., at 15 years 'stark raving sober'), Harry H., my "spiritual guide", gave me a copy of Emily Cady's book, "Lessons In Truth". Harry was the only enlightened man I have met in person.
The matters that Chuck C. talks about in this video (and his other talks) are the same insights that those gentlemen shared with me - that is, the universal truths of unity, non-duality and transcendental consciousness that lie at the heart of all the world's great wisdom traditions.
Why everyone refer to the non they are none of my business
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