| Abstain.....................9 | |
| sin and that the truly spiritual person must abstain from it. Thus one of those oft-mentioned vicious | 44 THE FORCES OF LOVE, EROS, AND SEX |
| far as phenomena are concerned. So we usually abstain from all manifestations such as direct voice, materialization | 54 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| to do the very thing you in fact abstain from. Being a decent and honest individual, you | 57 THE MASS IMAGE OF SELF-IMPORTANCE |
| should be taken with great care. You should abstain from applying my answer to each case you | 61 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS |
| demands because you decide they are worthwhile or abstain from them. But there will not be a | 88 RELIGION: TRUE AND FALSE |
| in you. You now believe that you should abstain from right actions. This is not so. What | 90 MORALIZING -- DISPROPORTIONATE REACTIONS -- NEEDS |
| to be willful and to counterfeit feelings, should abstain from these exercises because they must first shed | 203 INTERPENETRATION OF THE DIVINE LIGHT SPARK INTO THE OUTER REGIONS - MIND EXERCISES |
| as a defense against other emotions should deliberately abstain for a while from using the superimposed feeling | 203 INTERPENETRATION OF THE DIVINE LIGHT SPARK INTO THE OUTER REGIONS - MIND EXERCISES |
| and conscientiously. How much maturity is needed to abstain from the temptations to abuse freedom! How much | 242 THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS |
| Abstinence..................3 | |
| really being so, falsely postulates resignation, martyrdom, and abstinence in order to avoid revealing the negative traits | 149 COSMIC PULL TOWARD UNION -- FRUSTRATION |
| of tolerating frustration, distorted responses, such as martyrdom, abstinence, and resignation are adopted in a so-called spiritual | 149 COSMIC PULL TOWARD UNION -- FRUSTRATION |
| applies to everything else. Without some measure of abstinence, fulfillment becomes shallow and is therefore no longer | 228 BALANCE |
| Abstract....................55 | |
| you people imagine it, neither is it something abstract. Everything that for you is an abstraction is | 10 MALE AND FEMALE INCARNATIONS: THEIR RHYTHMS AND CAUSES |
| world of fantasy. It is real. For you, abstract ideas are formless. In the spirit world all | 18 FREE WILL |
| ideas are formless. In the spirit world all abstract ideas have form and substance. That is how | 18 FREE WILL |
| in your material world are thoughts and feelings abstract: in other worlds spirits create their own worlds | 20 GOD: THE CREATION |
| beings, not only regarding subjects and objects in abstract and concrete ideas and in language, but also | 22 SALVATION |
| only material objects have form and the so-called abstract things do not have form, for they are | 22 SALVATION |
| spirit, because they accept only what is considered abstract as being part of the spirit world. They | 25 THE PATH: INITIAL STEPS, PREPARATION, AND DECISIONS |
| the spirit world. They forget that concrete and abstract are one in spirit, as everything is one | 25 THE PATH: INITIAL STEPS, PREPARATION, AND DECISIONS |
| knowledge be yours -- not necessarily general or abstract knowledge, for that is of lesser importance. It | 28 COMMUNICATION WITH GOD -- DAILY REVIEW |
| you hope to do this by seeking general, abstract knowledge of God or by doing certain spiritual | 28 COMMUNICATION WITH GOD -- DAILY REVIEW |
| pray and meditate. He will be something vaguely abstract and not a living reality in your everyday | 28 COMMUNICATION WITH GOD -- DAILY REVIEW |
| a benefit can be derived from this seemingly abstract piece of information. In other words, a personal | 29 THE FORCES OF ACTIVITY AND PASSIVITY -- FINDING GOD'S WILL |
| one, in that it will resemble a very abstract and philosophical lecture that seems to have no | 30 SELF-WILL, PRIDE AND FEAR |
| your spiritual work is useless if it is abstract and impersonal. Where you are unable to do | 31 SHAME |
| wonderful theories, but it is all in the abstract. Nothing is accomplished by that. Nothing is achieved | 43 THREE BASIC PERSONALITY TYPES: REASON, WILL, EMOTION |
| God is only a subterfuge because it is abstract and remote. No other human being can see | 44 THE FORCES OF LOVE, EROS, AND SEX |
| in every sphere or world, all inanimate objects, abstract ideas and living human beings. Nothing can exist | 48 THE LIFE FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE |
| just a beautiful story or a remote and abstract theory without any bearing on the now. It | 48 THE LIFE FORCE IN THE UNIVERSE |
| this topic is difficult to understand. It is abstract and not easily put into practice. It needs | 75 THE GREAT TRANSITION IN HUMAN DEVELOPMENT FROM ISOLATION TO UNION |
| it becomes more intellectualized and more open for abstract ideas. An adult is capable of understanding an | 76 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Compiled from Private Sessions and Earlier Lectures) |
| of understanding an idea or a concept in abstract terms. If you want to convey an idea | 76 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Compiled from Private Sessions and Earlier Lectures) |
| of Jesus and is therefore more receptive to abstract ideas. Incidentally, Jesus did not speak that way | 76 QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Compiled from Private Sessions and Earlier Lectures) |
| the longing for God may sound distant and abstract. When you try to imagine the divine bliss | 81 CONFLICTS IN THE WORLD OF DUALITY |
| joy. This is meant not only in an abstract or remote spiritual sense, but also in a | 82 THE CONQUEST OF DUALITY SYMBOLIZED IN THE LIFE AND DEATH OF JESUS |
| better what I mean than a description in abstract terms could. Let us suppose a male child | 93 THE LINK BETWEEN THE MAIN IMAGE, REPRESSED NEEDS, AND DEFENSES |
| other of that, it will keep you from abstract theorizing. You would not really need meetings to | 108 FUNDAMENTAL GUILT FOR NOT LOVING -- OBLIGATIONS |
| inapplicable to your personal lives because of its abstract, philosophical and metaphysical nature. But if you have | 112 HUMANITYS RELATIONSHIP TO TIME |
| demands. Next on the scale is love for abstract ideas, principles, art, nature. The love for one's | 115 PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| can also fall into this category. Love for abstract ideas evades personal involvement with the accompanying apparent | 115 PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| would fall under the category of love for abstract ideas and principles. You may also wonder why | 115 PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| to escape under an unhealthy preoccupation with an abstract God-idea that could anyway never be really understood | 115 PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| it falls under the category of love for abstract ideas or principles and is, as such, of | 115 PERCEPTION, DETERMINATION, LOVE AS ASPECTS OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| These words are, of course, very theoretical and abstract; just reading or hearing them merely opens you | 122 SELF-FULFILLMENT THROUGH SELF-REALIZATION AS MAN OR WOMAN |
| this is not merely a theory or an abstract philosophical principle: it is a key to how | 126 CONTACT WITH THE LIFE FORCE |
| the existence of many more spiritual worlds an abstract idea, however. They are reality, just as each | 130 FINDING TRUE ABUNDANCE BY GOING THROUGH YOUR FEAR |
| that my talks are not in the least abstract philosophical discourses but very practical guideposts to your | 135 MOBILITY IN RELAXATION-SUFFERING THROUGH ATTACHMENT OF LIFE FORCE TO NEGATIVE SITUATIONS |
| derive more from this lecture than a vague, abstract principle, is by looking at yourself from the | 135 MOBILITY IN RELAXATION-SUFFERING THROUGH ATTACHMENT OF LIFE FORCE TO NEGATIVE SITUATIONS |
| true. I realize, of course, that the mere abstract principle I explain here can never suffice. Regardless | 144 THE PROCESS AND SIGNIFICANCE OF GROWING |
| my friends, this material is not difficult or abstract for those who have already explored their innermost | 154 PULSATION OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| This, in turn, cannot be done in an abstract, general or philosophical way. It can only happen | 159 LIFE MANIFESTATION REFLECTS DUALISTIC ILLUSION |
| it. You still perceive this as a faraway, abstract, unreal theory, and you experience yourself as an | 162 THREE LEVELS OF REALITY FOR INNER GUIDANCE |
| will not only be a possibility in the abstract, but an effective way of living, day in | 174 SELF-ESTEEM |
| do not intend to give you an impractical abstract lecture. According to its nature, each aspect of | 189 SELF-IDENTIFICATION DETERMINED THROUGH STAGES OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| all the way. These are not promises nor abstract philosophies and principles. These are concrete actions to | 201 DEMAGNETIZING NEGATIVE FORCE FIELDS -- PAIN OF GUILT |
| last lecture, what may first appear as purely abstract cosmic knowledge about creative processes will, when you | 215 PSYCHIC NUCLEAR POINTS CONTINUED -- PROCESS IN THE NOW |
| -- that does not also contain feeling. Pure, abstract thought may appear as totally divorced from feeling | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| so. As a matter of fact, the more abstract and pure the thought is, the more the | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| You must also differentiate between cut-off thought and abstract thought. Don't confuse them. Cut-off thought is a | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| against feelings and undesirable aspects of the self. Abstract thought is a result of a highly integrated | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| coexist with this. As its underlying energy current, abstract thought contains a feeling of immense peace, of | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| bound to induce joyousness and bliss. A purely abstract thought would create this kind of energetic or | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| to self-deceit, which block the way to the abstract knowledge of the universe. This does not mean | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| expression, but if the system is based on abstract theories and governed by the mind only, the | 242 THE SPIRITUAL MEANING OF POLITICAL SYSTEMS |
| objects we are of course dealing with concepts, abstract ideas, values, truths, laws, and so on. It | 246 TRADITION: ITS DIVINE AND DISTORTED ASPECTS |
| it reached his or her consciousness. The many abstract concepts and laws I have discussed with you | 246 TRADITION: ITS DIVINE AND DISTORTED ASPECTS |
| Abstraction.................7 | |
| something abstract. Everything that for you is an abstraction is concrete in spirit; everything that for you | 10 MALE AND FEMALE INCARNATIONS: THEIR RHYTHMS AND CAUSES |
| The command of love became more of an abstraction and contained the threat of forcing upon individuals | 155 FEAR OF SELF -- GIVING AND RECEIVING |
| put into practical use remains a shallow intellectual abstraction that fails to permeate the other levels of | 197 ENERGY AND CONSCIOUSNESS IN DISTORTION: EVIL |
| will and the mind; it is not an abstraction; it is not emoting, or a sentimental gesture | 202 PSYCHIC INTERACTION OF NEGATIVITY |
| the universe. This does not mean, I repeat, abstraction in the sense of mechanical, dead, alienated, superficial | 217 THE PHENOMENON OF CONSCIOUSNESS |
| which, for you, is as yet only an abstraction. Yet the actual abstraction is the outer space | 256 INNER SPACE, FOCUSED EMPTINESS |
| as yet only an abstraction. Yet the actual abstraction is the outer space. In physical death, the | 256 INNER SPACE, FOCUSED EMPTINESS |
| Abstractions................5 | |
| in a more than twofold split. Meditation on abstractions cannot bring forth a profound understanding of this | 118 DUALITY THROUGH ILLUSION -- TRANSFERENCE |
| understand fully the state of duality. Meditation on abstractions can never accomplish that. When you are in | 118 DUALITY THROUGH ILLUSION -- TRANSFERENCE |
| negative feelings. It does not suffice to make abstractions about them. They must truly be lived through | 155 FEAR OF SELF -- GIVING AND RECEIVING |
| are, at best, dulled -- and often mere abstractions of the mind. Nothing renders the individual so | 167 FROZEN LIFE CENTER BECOMES ALIVE |
| should know that these inner spaces are not abstractions or symbolic expressions; they are much more real | 256 INNER SPACE, FOCUSED EMPTINESS |