fax: 828-859-9960
P. O. Box 155
Tryon, NC 28782
Kitty: Flip needs to have all of these assignments done and ready to hand
in before he makes his own first appointment. Flip Laffoon First Assignment: As a Man Thinketh
5.
"...the conscious master, and man can only thus become by discovering
within himself the laws of thought: which discovery is totally a
matter of application, self- analysis, and experience," p.
15
Truths for "Effect of Thought on Circumstance"
2.
"Thought and character are one, and as character can only manifest
and discover itself through environment and circumstance, the outer
conditions of a person's life will always be found to be harmoniously
related to his inner state," p. 18 3.
"Every man is where he is by the law of his being; the thoughts
which he has built into his character have brought him there, and
in the arrangement of his life there is no element of chance, but
all is the result of a law which cannot err," p. 19 4.
"Man is buffeted by circumstances so long as he believes himself
to be the creature of outside conditions, but when he realizes that
he is a creative power, and that he may command the hidden soil
and seeds of his being out of which circumstances grow, he then
becomes the rightful master of himself," p. 19-20 5.
"The soul attracts that which it secretly harbors; that which
it loves, and also that which it fears; it reaches the height of
its cherished aspirations; it falls to the level of its unchastened
desires,-and circumstances are the means by which the soul receives
its own," p. 20-21 6.
"Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself,"
p. 22
8.
"The 'divinity that shapes our ends' is in ourselves; it is
our very self. Man is manacled only by himself: thought and action
are gaolers of Fate-they imprison, being base; they are also the
angels of Freedom-they liberate, being noble. Not what he wishes
for does a man get, but what he justly earns. His wishes and prayers
are only gratified and answered when they harmonize with his thoughts
and actions," p.23-24 9.
"[Fighting against circumstances] means that a man is continually
revolting against an effect without, while all the time he is nourishing
and preserving its cause in his heart," p. 24 10.
"The man who does not shrink from self-crucifixion can never
fail to accomplish the object upon which his heart is set,"
p. 25 11.
"The sole and supreme use of suffering is to purify , to burn
out all that is useless and impure," p. 31 12.
"Blessedness and riches are only joined together when the riches
are rightly and wisely used; and the poor man only descends into
wretchedness when he regards his lot as a burden unjustly imposed,"
p. 32 13.
"...during the process of putting himself right, [man] will
find that as he alters his thoughts towards things and other people,
things and other people will alter towards him," p. 33 14.
"Men imagine that thought can be kept secret, but it cannot;
it rapidly crystallizes into habit, and habit solidifies into circumstance,"
p. 34 15.
"A man cannot directly choose his circumstances, but he can
choose his thoughts, and so indirectly, yet surely, shape his circumstances,"
p. 36
Truths for "Effect on Health and the Body"
2.
" A sour face does not come by chance; it is made by sour thoughts.
Wrinkles that mar are drawn by folly, passion, pride," p.41 3.
"...a strong body and a bright, happy, or serene countenance
can only result from the free admittance into the mind of thoughts
of joy and goodwill and serenity," p.42 a. You are what you
think; if you see the world as beautiful, you will become a beautiful
person in that world. 4.
"On the faces of the aged there are wrinkles made by sympathy,
others by strong and pure thought, and others are carved by passion:
who cannot distinguish them?" p. 42 5.
"To live continually in thoughts of ill will, cynicism, suspicion,
and envy, is to be confined in a self-made prison-hole. But to think
well of all, to be cheerful with all, to patiently learn to find
the good in all-such unselfish thoughts are the very portals of
heaven; and to dwell day by day in thoughts of peace toward every
creature will bring abounding peace to their possessor," p.
43 1.
"Until thought is linked with purpose there is no intelligent
accomplishment," p. 44 a. If you have a thought that exists
only in and of itself, you are accomplishing. 2.
" Aimlessness is a vice, and such drifting must not continue
for him who would steer clear of catastrophe and destruction,"
p. 44 3.
"They who have no central purpose in their life fall an easy
prey to petty worries, fears, troubles, and self -pityings, all
of which are indications of weakness, which lead, just as surely
as deliberately planned sins (though by a different route), to failure,
unhappiness, and loss, for weakness cannot persist in a power-evolving
universe," p. 44-45 4.
"He should make this purpose his supreme duty, and should devote
himself to its attainment, not allowing his thoughts to wander away
into ephemeral fancies, longings, and imaginings," p. 45 5.
"Even if he fails again and again to accomplish his purpose
(as he necessarily must until weakness is overcome ), the strength
of character gained will be the measure of his true success, and
this will form a new starting-point for future power and triumph
" p. 46 6.
"Those who are not prepared for apprehension of a great purpose,
should fix the thoughts upon the faultless performance of their
duty , no matter how insignificant their task may appear. Only in
this way can the thoughts be gathered and focussed, and resolution
and energy be developed, which being done, there is nothing which
may not be accomplished," p. 46 7.
"To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think
with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only
recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make
all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly,
and accomplish masterfully," p. 47 8.
"Thoughts of doubt and fear never accomplish anything, and
never can. They always lead to failure," p. 48 9.
"The will to do springs from the knowledge that we can do,"
p. 48 10.
"He who has conquered doubt and fear has conquered failure,"
p. 48 11.
"Thought allied fearlessly to purpose becomes creative force:
he who knows this is ready to become something higher and stronger
than a mere bundle of wavering thoughts and fluctuating sensations;
he who does this has become the conscious and intelligent wielder
of his mental powers," p. 49
2.
"None but himself can alter his condition," p. 51 3.
"A perfect Knowledge perceives the action of law in the weakness
of the oppressed and the misapplied power of the oppressor; a perfect
Love, seeing the suffering which both states entail, condemns neither;
a perfect Compassion embraces both oppressor and oppressed,"
p. 52 4.
"There can be no progress, no achievement without sacrifice...,"
p.53 5.
" Achievement, of whatever kind, is the crown of effort, the
diadem of thought," p. 55 6.
" A man may rise to high success in the world, and even to
lofty altitudes in the spiritual realm, and again descend into weakness
and wretchedness by allowing arrogant, selfish, and corrupt thoughts
to take possession of him," p. 55-56 7.
"He who would accomplish little must sacrifice little; he who
would achieve much must sacrifice much; he who would attain highly
must sacrifice greatly," p. 56
1.
"The dreamers are the saviours of the world," p. 57 2.
"Humanity cannot forget its dreamers; it cannot let their ideals
fade and die; it lives in them; it knows them as the realities which
it shall one day see and know," p. 57 3.
"Composer, sculptor, painter, poet, prophet, sage, these are
the makers of the after- world, the architects of heaven. The world
is beautiful because they have lived; without them, laboring humanity
would perish," p. 57 4.
"Cherish your visions; cherish your ideals; cherish the music
that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the
loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will
grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environments; of these,
if you but remain true to them, your world will at last be built,"
p. 58 5.
"Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become,"
p. 59 6.
"The greatest achievement was at first and for a time a dream,"
p. 59 7.
"Dreams are the seedlings of realities," p. 59 8.
"And you, too, youthful reader, will realize the Vision (not
the idle wish) of your heart, be it base or beautiful, or a mixture
of both, for you will always gravitate 9.
"In all human affairs there are efforts, and there are results,
and the strength of the effort is the measure of the result. Chance
is not. 'Gifts,' powers, material, intellectual, and spiritual possessions
are the fruits of effort; they are thoughts completed, objects accomplished,
visions realized," p. 64 10. "The Vision that you glorify in your mind, the Ideal that you enthrone in your heart- this you will build your life by, this you, will Become," p. 64 a. Again, we become our thoughts and dreams. Truths for "Serenity"
2.
" A man becomes calm in the measure that he understands himself
as a thought- evolved being, for such knowledge necessitates the
understanding of others as the result of thought...," p. 65
3.
''...as he develops a right understanding, and sees more and more
clearly the internal relations of things by the action of cause
and effect, he ceases to fuss and fume and worry and grieve, and
remains poised, steadfast, serene," p. 65-66 4.
"The calm man, having learned how to govern himself, knows
how to adapt himself to others; and they, in turn, reverence his
spiritual strength, and feel that they can learn of him and rely
upon him," p. 66 5.
"The more tranquil a man becomes, the greater is his success,
his influence, his power for good," p. 66 6.
"In the bark of your soul reclines the commanding Master; He
does but sleep: wake Him. Self-control is strength; Right Thought
is mastery; Calmness is power," p. 68 Enneagram Exercise I chose
playing solitaire as my activity to perform while I pantomimed the
essences of each type. I started with the 1 ~ 4 ~ 2 ~ 8 ~ 5 ~ 7
form. As a One, I found myself being really careful about the placing
of the cards evenly and orderly and making sure that the cards were
all organized perfectly. I played the game strictly by the rules
and felt a wonderfully warm sense of righteousness when I won without
having to break any rules. As a Four, I was somewhat distracted
by the game. I would look around the room for other stimuli, I studied
one of the cats and imagined myself as the cat and what that would
be like, I thought a little about what it would be like to win an
Oscar, I imagined myself in a lovely meadow in the springtime. I
didn't really care when I lost. As a Two, I was very restless playing
the game because I didn't feel like it was at all fulfilling to
be playing the game alone. I thought about all the things I could
be doing that would be nice for other people, like writing my thank-you
notes or doing the dishes or taking the lights of the Christmas
tree. I was glad when I lost fairly quickly. As an Eight, I was
really focused on beating the game. I started breaking the rules
fairly quickly and soon was breaking most of them to beat the game,
which I did; and that made me feel quite smug and powerful. As a
Five, I didn't really care about winning the game, but I was very
focused on seeing how the game unfolded. I thought it very interesting
that six of the initial seven face-up cards were of black suits.
I found myself seeing the whole spread of the game as I played it,
and I didn't miss a placement. I lost but didn't care really. As
a Seven, I played the game for a little while; then I got thirsty,
so I got a glass of water . Then I saw the new People magazine,
so I flipped through it briefly. Then I remembered that I wanted
to download some songs from the internet, so I turned the computer
on. I didn't even fInish the game. Then I moved on to the 9 ~ 3
~ 6 form. As a Nine, I went through the motions of playing the game,
but my mind wandered off a lot. It would snap back to the game when
something intriguing happened, such as the uncovering of an ace,
but I mostly went through the mechanics of it. As a Three, I was
very intense about the game. I was determined to win the game and
in the fastest time. I started off beautifully; but as soon as I
saw that I wasn't going to win, I started to cheat. But the cheating
didn't work, and I lost. I felt like a total failure; I mean, how
sad is it that I can't even win a friggin' game of solitaire?! As
a Six, I found myself worried about losing and was pretty cautious
about the flipping of every card in the beginning because I wasn't
totally sure it was going to be a helpful card. As the game progressed,
I started to lose the fear a little bit and wanted to overcome the
odds and beat the evil card gods. And I did! I then played one game
for the 9 ~ 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9 form. I started out
shuffling the cards mechanically; then set the game up perfectly;
began it concerned about my thank-you notes; continued it quickly
and strongly, just knowing I was going to win; then became suddenly
distracted by the pretty hearts on the Nine of Hearts; broadened
my focus to encompass all the cards; became afraid that the cards
were stacked against me, even though I seemed to be winning; suddenly
wanted to download that Pat Benatar song; employed a bit of rule-breaking
to ensure victory; and finally wondered how on earth I came to win
the game. Part Two of the Enneagram Excersize Pantomiming one characteristic from each type varied in difficulty depending on the form I did, and the type. With the 1-> 4 -> 2 -> 8 -> 5 -7 form I went from anger to envy to pride to lust to avarice to gluttony. I found it easiest to pantomime anger and lust because they are explicit emotions that I could easily physicalize them. I had the hardest time with pride and envy because I could not really think of any pbysical action to go with them. With avarice and gluttony, I found myself making sure that everything was in the house and nothing was gone and wanting to consume everything possible in the house. With the 9 ~ 3 ~ 6 form, I went from sloth to deceit to fear. I actually had the most trouble with deceit because it was hard to find a physicality for it; however, sloth and fear were very easy to physicalize. I also found a scarf that I played around with doing the third form of 9 ~ I ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9. This was my favorite because the progression through each of the characteristics was very smooth. Being lazy led to being angry , which led to pride because I wanted not to be lazy , which led to wanting to cover up my prideful laziness, which led to being jealous at the thought of others not being lazy liars, which led to consoling myself with all the things I had, which led to the fear that those things might be taken, which led to wanting to tastee them all while I could, which led to lust of having everything turn me on, which led to laziness again because I was so tired. To the begining |
