The individual mind is not the higher mind. It is only a condensation and individualization of the higher mind. It is the lower mind that weighs and judges everything, but contributes nothing of a higher nature to one's daily life. That part of the mind which is creative is manifested only in the higher aspect of mental consciousness. The lower mind passes judgment on all things, and mostly from a platform of ignorance of the true facts of the situation. Mostly, humans are of a negative nature. From the perspective of the childlike mind there is acceptability for most things, but from the perspective of the so-called mature mind there is very little acceptability for anything; hence a negative reaction to most things.

To some extent this attitude is an extension of self-preservation, being cautious; otherwise it is purely a negative reaction to things caused by our own lack of insight into ourselves. The manner in which we react is usually the result of subconscious pressures resulting from our actions in past lives. Also, the conscious mind is, in many cases, a lazy mind that does not try to ferret out the truth. We are here on earth to live in the framework of truth, but to do this takes mental effort which we are not willing to expend.

However, there comes a time when we feel the need to expand our awareness, and to grow inwardly, and in so doing we come into quiet acceptances. As we progress along our inward journey, we become less and less negative, because we learn to accept certain situations in life. We are no longer fighting everything for no reason and nothing for every reason. We are now gaining a greater capacity for deep understanding. We are now beginning to learn what we can change in life and what we cannot change. We now begin to accept certain situations that exist in life.

Anyone who is constantly trying to change that which cannot be changed is always in trouble. The real problem is that we never bother to change ourselves, which should be our first priority. We spend our time trying to change others to our misguided way of life. We should spend our time changing that which we have control over and not that which we have no control over. We can only do more when we know more and not before. Therefore, we have to go along according to the pattern of things we understand. And, we should stand for and support patterns of life that are life supporting and good to the degree that we understand good.

The first thing we must learn is to interpret ourselves before we attempt to interpret others and pass judgment on others. As the scriptures say, “Know Thy Self,” and when we do, we will no longer pass judgment on anyone.

Most things that we think are so important are only important because we think they are, and not because they really are. As we increase our inner awareness, the pressures of life become less and less, because they have less meaning. The nagging pressures to demand more and require more become less and less, because the mind is no longer declaring itself to be always right and then defending an untenable position to the bitter end. We slowly cease to be in great error because we have learned that the ones to be corrected are ourselves.

We cannot erase all errors in one life, generally speaking, but at least we are firmly on the path of rectification. We are now changing our attitudes and correcting numerous bad habits. We are at long last gaining mastery over our emotions and our selfish desires, and in so doing we are also gaining good health. We have cleaned out the attic, and thereby the rest of the house is lightened and relieved. We also find that we have grown much more cheerful because we have inner peace and happiness that endures.

In looking back at ourselves we now see how negative and unhappy we really were and that it was of our own creation. We also realize that although we were very miserable, in our misery we thought we were happy. This is a great delusion of life that we have now outgrown. We are now expressing our inner true nature which is the God nature within us. We no longer need to constantly defend ourselves because right speech, right thought and right action need no defense. We have now moved into the light that knows no shadows and a life that knows no sorrow. We are becoming one with the light; yes we are the light.