Word
Gems
What is a
man but the sum of his thoughts?
Truth:
- Herbert Puryear's
- The Edgar Cayce
Primer
How Can We Know?
The question "How can we know?" is one of the most fundamental concerns of all
mankind. Every choice we make is influenced by assumptions we have accepted. Every day we
make decisions affecting our health, our business affairs, our relationships with our
families and others, our mental and our spiritual attitudes.
What are the sources of information upon which base our decisions? In his search
for knowledge, man has turned to many authorities: to a great mind, as Aristotle's; to
divine inspiration, such as Bible; to personal experience and the physical senses; to
reason and to the findings of scientific research.
For thousands of years, and especially since the renaissance, our civilization has been
deeply influenced by philosophies which maintain that all knowledge originates in the outer
world and is mediated by the physical senses. Scientific knowledge is based on this
assumption. In contrast, Edgar Cayce, who was really one exceptional individual among
hundreds who have traveled the mystic path, presented solid evidence that information of
every kind may be obtained entirely from within...
Importance of Having an Ideal
There are many voices from without and from within which clamor for our attention and
commitment. Parents, teachers, peers, politicians, advertisers, preachers, psychics,
scientists, philosophers, and holy men--all call us to share their point of view.
There are as many voices from within as without: pride, jealousy, fear, self-esteem,
biological urges, concern for what others might think, dreams, discarnate entities of
every ilk, guardian angels, a dozen forms of conscience both healthy and pathological, and
the still small voice.
With all this input, how can we fail to be as corks tossed by every wave and
ripple? We need a solid place to stand, a place to which we may return, when we reevaluate
and reorient our lives and thoughts.
- We need a firm and stable criterion by which to measure
information. Unless we assume the initiative and responsibility for establishing such a
criterion in our own lives, we should not expect ourselves to be other than wavering and
often misled.
For this reason, among others, Edgar Cayce said that the most important experience
for any person was to establish a spiritual ideal. The concept of setting the ideal is
challenging and beautiful.
- It is establishing a motivational center of gravity, a hub,
or a core within. As we become centered, we have a stable platform from which to gain the
optimum point of view on every question. Setting the ideal is establishing a quality of
spirit that is related to motivation, desire, purpose, intention, and incentive. It
provides a measuring rod by which to make comparisons, but it is also an internal
centering which automatically gives us a clearer perception of every issue.
The use of the ideal as a standard constitutes mature step forward over measuring
new information on the basis of previous experience, training, or belief.
How do we establish an ideal? Simply by writing it down on a piece of paper. It may be a
name such Moses or Jesus or Buddha which awakens within us a high sense of purpose; it may
be a phrase or an affirmation; or it may be a word for a quality such as love or oneness.
If we review the ideal, allowing it to quicken within us the high spirit which it
connotes, and if we measure choices and decisions by this spirit, it will in time
transform our lives as well as give us a stable point of view by which to evaluate sources
of information...
Editor's note: this excerpt is continued under the "God
& Religion/Prayer" icon.
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