(The following is part of a series of columns which were published in a periodical printed in the 1970’s.)
I cannot thank you enough for your acknowledgement and support. Who you are adds to my joy, and you make a difference in my life. I consider myself fortunate indeed to have such an incredible network of loving friends willing to give so much of themselves to me, but it hasn¹t always been this way.
One of the most difficult things I¹ve had to overcome in my life was to admit to myself that I was operating from a programmed point of view. Everything I was ever taught was stored in my mind and computerized for me to draw from any time a new circumstance would arise. With each new situation, I came up against fear and anxiety, the giant barriers that blocked me from the experience of love and joy, which I now recognize to be my way of life. These barriers were the resistence I held onto in not wanting to further my spiritual life.
I was constantly searching outside myself for satisfaction, and though I had a glimmer of momentary gratification, I never knew what it felt like until I took a sixty hour training called est, which was designed to put people in touch with themselves in two consecutive weekends. I know skeptics will find this impossible to believe, and yet in my own experience, because I was willing to break through my skeptical barrier, the first of many, my life began to transform miraculously before my eyes. And to the degree that I was willing to crash through the insurmountable walls that I had set up out of my programming, was precisely the degree to which I allowed my Self to grow.
The est training* was developed from one man¹s willingness to share the experience of his own transformation; as a result, one quarter of a million people have been able to experience it for themselves.
Everything becomes such a struggle when we continually give in to our barriers. And when we have a critical mass of people doing that at the same time, there is no way the World can work. Life in not meant to be that way. The more we press through our barriers, the more open and loving we become, leaving ourselves free to experience miracles every moment of our lives. This is the way I live my life, and I support you in living yours that way too. You deserve it because you are love. And I love you.
