Upon purchasing some new computer software, we often find a "quick start" section at the beginning of the documentation, for users with some experience (and little spare time), consisting of the refined essentials of the instructions that follow. The assumption is, if you get the gist of this summation, you can immediately get on with making good use of the program.
Similarly, the following "Words of Enlightenment" could be seen as the refined distillation of this book (and indeed all the wisdom I've ever read or heard).
I place these "conclusions" up front because I believe in the enormous power of a few well-chosen words (while still acknowledging their limitations). The ideas embodied here could theoretically liberate you instantly, if you are - by whatever definition that is relevant - ready. If you truly get the message, congratulations.. you are already free, and you may pass the book on to someone else whom you would love to similarly enlighten. Then again, if these pithy maxims serve to effectively whet your appetite for further exploration, this book is definitely for you, and you are bound to profit from reading on. Lest my aphorisms strike the reader as too fanciful or poetic to be taken seriously - and to emphasize the depth of my convictions - I will share with you the fact that as I write, my dear mother, whom I love with all my heart and soul, is dying in the next room.. a situation which tends to sharpen my intent and discrimination considerably. If she could but hear and understand, this is the same information I would wish to convey to her, on her way out of this life, as I would to any newborn citizen of this planet, on his or her way in
• All Life Is ONE.
Everything is connected and related to everything else.
• All Time Is NOW.
Infinity is HERE. Past, present and future are inseparable.
• Consciousness is Omnipresent and Omniscient (everywhere and all-knowing).
Mind creates the world. Matter is frozen light.
• Energy Follows Thought.
We are creating reality and our destiny every moment.
• Creation Is Constantly Changing Pattern.
Intelligence is absolute and all-pervasive.
• You Are Already Perfect.
The Universe is your home. You are never alone.
• Love Is Everything.
Beauty is everywhere. The mundane is Divine.
• Your Body Is A Sacred Gift, which you gave yourself.
By a trick of attention, you have come to believe that it contains you, but actually, you contain it.
• As a corollary, pleasure is no sin.
In fact, the very intensity and depth of enjoyment available to you in this body is a kind of brilliant shortcut to the spiritual, and the redeeming proof of the basic grandness of Existence.
• Pain is the greatest teacher, yet much of your suffering is unnecessary.
• There is nothing to fear.
Death Is An Illusion.
• It's ALL Right.
Though you live within unforeseen change and upheaval, you're still OK. Life is worth the trouble. Happiness is not only possible, but practical.
Excerpt from Enlightenment In Our Time - The Perennial Wisdom in the New Millennium, by Lonny J. Brown, Ph.D.
