Today's post, and in fact this blog also, was sparked off by an article and the subsequent exchange of comments with its author Mr Twenty Twenty.
The article was preceded by an introductory e-mail:
Hey mate,
Today we are focused on persistence. Enjoy this great quote of Neville Goddard's and if you have just 3 minutes - I wrote a tiny little article on Persistence and Pain you might really get a lot from as well.
Here is Neville:
"There is no limit to the power of belief or to the possibilities of prayer, but you must be brazenly impudent and not take No for an answer. Try it! When I say you are all imagination, I mean it."
"While standing here on the platform I can, in a split-second, imagine I am standing on the outside, looking at this building. Or, in another second be in London and view the world from there. You say that's all hallucination? That it is all in my imagination?"
And here is the article I wrote today that fits in finely. Leave a comment if you would and feel free to share and forward to a friend.
http://2020unleashed.com/mastermind/day-17-persistence-or-pain-which-do-you-choose/
Mr Twenty Twenty
The article is more orientated Napoleon Hill and talks about persisting in action in order to avoid pain, here is my comment to the article and Mr Twenty Twenty's response:
Interesting as always, but there is something I have trouble reconciling. Here you are equating persistence to action whereas Neville does not. He says to NOT DO anything to make it happen, no tricks, no diets, etc., as these actions are saying “I do not have what I want”, “I AM not yet the person I want to be”.
This is hard to do but I have realised desires (mine and loved ones’) without doing anything in the world of effects – In fact there was nothing I could do most of the time. All of my “work” was done in the world of cause, imagination.
Twenty Twenty on January 9, 2012 at 2:56 pm
Hi Anne,
Great question. Here is my experience, I hope you find it useful.
I don’t do much of anything to actually MAKE something happen. But anyone now knows me knows I am very active – even when siting still, enjoying a good cigar, looking out onto the ocean.
From what I can tell, as human beings – we have an amazing opportunity to participate in the emergence of “thought into reality” I imagined my body – much stronger and much more flexible some time ago. And I simply found myself exercising daily – using little Four Minute Routines – that have totally transformed my body. I feel good – and that helps me imagine and feel good about even more in my life.
It’s the same in my biz adventures. I imagine “the results”. I imagine the lifestyle – writing powerful articles, producing powerful products- the lives that are touched – the income for both me and my clients. And I again find “my body”, which is part of the universe that responds to the Divine Imagination – I find it taking action – like writing this reply.
Imagining “you getting what you need in response to your question” opens the door to action being taken. And to me taking my part in the action.
Have a great day!
Crass commercial: I would love to do a Custom Recording on this. The first person to paypal $47 dollars (notice that is a reduced price) to us for it at 2020@exhostage.com – gets to be part of the process – have their questions addressed- and their programming loosened up. This could be GREAT FUN to explore at a depth that the written word can’t possibly touch. Time to rock and roll.
This got me thinking. I agree that if we're really in the feeling of being and having our desires in the moment, we act in ways that are coherent. If writing is my passion then I will write, no matter what. If that's really what rocks my boat, I may have down times but I will always come back to it and seek to improve it. I can't really help but do that. But the persistence isn't in the writing, it's in the allowing of it. If I feel a need to persist in something then there is a sign of resistance.
Persistence: the fact of continuing in an opinion or course of action in spite of difficulty or opposition: Cardiff’s persistence was rewarded with a try
If I'm allowing then I'm inspired to write or do something else. If I'm perceiving difficulty or opposition then I'm not in the feeling of being and having my desires in the moment, which is the key.
So this is my GPS system telling me I'm off track and that I need to ask myself: "What am I not getting here and what is my real motivation for doing something?"
Am I doing this simply for the pleasure of doing it and because it is what I'm inspired to do or is it because I think I have to do it to get something?
Where should I really be being persistent here?
What does Neville say about persistence? A lot but nothing about struggling to make things happen through action in what he often refers to as the world of effects. Or rather he did but he said not to do it:
"Leave the mirror and change your face. Leave the world alone and change your conceptions of yourself." — from Your Faith is Your Fortune, 1941
"All that you behold, though it appears without it is within, of which this world of mortality is but a shadow." If you will but enter a state in your imagination, and assume its truth, the outer world will respond to your assumption, for it is your shadow, forever bearing witness to your inner imaginal activity. - ALL THAT YOU BEHOLD Neville Goddard 04-19-1969
Here are some excerpts that a search for the word persist brought up:
“Then this story is told to show how you should pray and not lose heart: "In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor regarded man. There was a widow in that city who came constantly, asking him to vindicate her against her enemies. At first he refused, then he said to himself, ‘Although I neither fear God nor regard man, yet because this woman bothers me I will vindicate her before she wears me out.’” Again we see the need for persistence in prayer.”
“Jesus was not teaching a disciple on the outside how to pray. He was telling you how to adjust your thinking so you will not take No for an answer. In the story the friend knew what he wanted. He assumed he had it and continued to assume he had it until his assumption took on the feeling of reality and he got it. This is how you find God in yourself, by being persistent in your assumption.”
"Now, the two stories from scripture that I have shared with you show the importance of persistence. When you pray, do not get down on your knees and pray to any unknown God. Instead, go to bed and dare to assume you are now who you want to be. Fall asleep assuming it is true and you will be on the road to success, for this is how things are brought into being." -- Brazen impudence lecture
"You cannot persist in wanting what you already have. If you assume you are what you desire to be to the point of ecstasy, you no longer want it. Your imaginal act is as much a creative act as a physical one wherein man halts, shrinks and is blessed, for as man creates his own likeness, so does your imaginal act transform itself into the likeness of your assumption. If, however, you do not reach the point of satisfaction, repeat the action over and over again until you feel as though you touched it and virtue went out of you."
25. Question: No matter how much I try to be happy, underneath, I have a melancholy feeling of being left out. Why?
Answer: Because you feel you are not wanted. Were I you, I would assume I am wanted. You know the technique. The assumption that you are wanted may seem false when first assumed, but if you will feel wanted and respected, and persist in that assumption, you will be amazed how others will seek you out. They will begin to see qualities in you they had never seen before. I promise you. If you will but assume you are wanted, you will be.
The secret of prayer:
"When you are learning the art of prayer, persistence is necessary, as told us in the story of the man who – coming at night – said: “Friend, lend me three loaves of bread”. Although his friend replied: “It is late, the door is closed, my children are in bed, and I cannot come down and serve you,” because of the man’s importunity, his friend gave him what he wanted. The word importunity means brazen impudence. The man repeated and repeated his request, unwilling to take no for an answer. The same is true in the story of the widow. These are all parables told to illustrate prayer."
Foundation stone:
"A story was told me tonight of a man who had lost his wife at the birth of his son, and the child was taken to St. Louis to be brought up by his wife's sister. This man had tried for seven years to get enough ahead to take a trip to St. Louis to see the child. He constantly tried to see himself getting a job with more money so he could make the trip. He was told that by the right use of this law he should only see himself with his child and let the way be left to God. Following this he was given a job that took him from Los Angeles to New Orleans. But that was not near St. Louis. He took the job and persisted in his dream, and in three months he was transferred to the St. Louis run and given a twenty-four hour layover there every week."
"Eventually we are all going to know we are the Father; but in the meanwhile, persistence is the key to a change in life – more income, greater recognition, or whatever the desire may be. If your desire is not fulfilled today, tomorrow, next week or next month – persist, for persistency will pay off. All of your prayers will be answered if you will not give up."
So persistence yes, but persistence in prayer and the assumption of being and having and doing what you desire; and persistence in getting straight on the true nature of the game and what those desires really are.
If a much stronger and much more flexible body is my desire then I will naturally be inspired to work out to in order to experience its strength and flexibility, and if I enjoy it, great. But if I feel that I really must persist in working out even though I don't really enjoy it, then its time for me to ask some questions rather than persist in it. Any pain I may be feeling is usually due to crap thinking and a part of crap thinking is thinking outside-in: "I will be happy when...." when it should be "I am happy now and I'm enjoying writing (or exercising)."
"The acceptance of the end wills the means toward the fulfillment of that end. Do not be concerned with anything save the end. Always bear in mind that the responsibility to make it so is completely removed from your shoulders. It is yours because you accept it as so! "
Thank you for inspiring this reflection Mr Twenty Twenty. Yes, my question and your reply lead me to think things through more deeply, do some research and start a blog. :)
Further reading:
http://www.mitchhorowitz.com/neville-goddard.html
http://realneville.com/txt/all_that_you_behold.htm