Over the years, I have read a number of books and had some wonderful teachers/mentors. I have collected a number of ideas and descriptions about Center and I want to share them with you and ask for your comments and feedback. I believe some of these points go to a deeper core within our Center which is to me quite fascinating. Many of these are particularly challenging for me and from time to time, I will glimpse one or two of them in an experience. Many of them are similar to what we have already discussed.”
A Definition of Center: (ADC) “It is only in the silence at Center that you discover the past doesn’t exist.”
ADC: “When you can observe Focker, you are not caught up in his/her drama.”
ADC: “When you live in the moment, time does not exist. As that happens, life becomes a series of moments and things like age are irrelevant.”
That means we could quit celebrating birthdays. At my age, I’m working on not celebrating my birthday any more than I would celebrate any other day. (Smiling) I have encouraged my family, however, not to take that literally and stop giving me gifts and taking me out to eat.
ADC: “Transformation is happening. Sometimes there is quick insight and change. At other times, it happens gradually. Be patient and engage the training and it will unfold within you.”
ADC: “At Center, there is no personality present to be hurt, judged, offended, rejected, defensive, suffering, angry, and so on.”
That one for most all of us is quite challenging.
From the novel:
Doug: “I know I keep bringing up this situation with my wife, but that statement was what made the difference. It was a choice I made not to let anything my wife said upset me. Doc, that phrase turned on a light for me. Focker wasn’t around to get upset, angry, and defensive. I was free at Center to stay calm.”
Paul: “And Doc is gettin’ ready to say, ‘If you can do it once, you kin get it done more often.’ Am I rite Doc?”
Doc: “Right on target Paul.”
Frank: “Ace talked about his sadness and remorse at Center over what happened during the war. Doc, according to what you said about no personality at Center, the person who made that statement wouldn’t have anyone at Center to be sad and remorseful.”
Doc: “I would caution all of you again not to get caught up in what anyone else says about Centering. Based on the statement, that person would agree with your interpretation Frank. There is no one there to be sad and remorseful. Ace in his personal interpretation of Center has said there is someone at Center who is sad and remorseful and that works well for him. No one is ever right or wrong about Centering. You define your own Center. Ace, did I express your thoughts accurately?”
Ace: “Yeah, that’s it Doc.”
Melinda: “Tilda (Melinda’s Focker) is still influencing me by saying that’s a scary thing not even to have a personality. She says if you don’t have a personality, who the hell are you? I have to remind myself that I am at Center living in this moment and why the hell do I need a personality to define me?”
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ADC: “I am not my past. I am not the future. I simply am…free to create in each moment something fresh and new.”
ADC: “Do not seek the Light for when you stop seeking it, you discover you are the Light. Go to Center. Bask in the Radiance of the Light and see what happens.”
Each of you is on your own journey and responsible for finding your truth along the way. I ask each of you to be humble and respectful of the right of others to disagree and follow another path. What is of ultimate importance, in my view, is that you discover that everything you need in life is and has always been within you at Center.
You combat veterans have experienced unspeakable trauma in your young lives. I have never suggested that this training will wipe away the trauma experienced during your time immersed in the insanity of that war. It is my hope that you will find your path to Center. I believe that having glimpsed the possibility for a life of peace and happiness at Center, you will find the way back to that place within where you will discover the truth that sets you free.
Listen to CM25