When you consciously step onto the spiritual path you get a chance to clear up those areas in your life that have not always been for the “highest good of all concerned.” – John-Roger

This Q&A with John-Roger was first published in the Movement Newspaper in January of 1983.

Q:  How can I avoid suffering when I release negative conditions?

J-R:  When you consciously step onto the spiritual path you get a chance to clear up those areas in your life that have not always been for the “highest good of all concerned.”  Many times as you change these old habit patterns and the way you go about doing things you may experience emotional pain or mental confusion — things you may think of as negative.  And then you think you are “suffering” when really you are releasing old patterns that no longer work for you and consciously taking control of your life.

If you have created “suffering” in the past, you may have to go through some more of it in order to clear that both inside yourself and with those around you.  Don’t judge the action.  Love the fact that you are going through it and realize at the other side of the suffering is the freedom from the pattern that has controlled you.

Q: How does one control the wavering thoughts while doing meditation?

J-R:  With practice.  The natural tendency of the mind is to wander and the process of meditation or spiritual exercises will help to discipline the mind and keep it directed the way you want it to go.  If you are a beginner to meditation or spiritual exercises, it’s a good idea not to try to “keep the mind quiet.”  The mind can continue to chatter but you just place it off to the side and continue to meditate.  Don’t be real concerned at first if your thoughts are all over the place.  As you practice and continue to discipline yourself, you will experience the results.  It can take time, so be patient with yourself.

Q:  How does one realize the “Self?”

J-R:  One becomes acquainted with the Self through the process of spiritual exercises.  Many of us have been asleep to ourselves for eons of time.  When you take the time each day to sit down and do your spiritual exercises, you allow time to become awakened to yourself again.  No one else can really tell you who you are.  You’re the one who knows what’s best for you and by allowing that time to be with the God in your heart, you will strengthen the knowledge of yourself and then realize the divine essence that’s inherent in you.

Q:  I recently moved from one state to another and things aren’t going too well here.  I keep thinking that I should have stayed where I was, that I left prematurely and that maybe I should go back.  What should I do?

J-R:  You cannot physically be two places at one time so you might as well be where you are now rather than have your mind and emotions and imagination traveling back to the “‘other” state.  Be present with what you are doing here now and handle each thing that comes along instead of spending a lot of your time trying to be someplace else.

Q:  It is a fine ideal to “take care of yourself so you can help take care of others.”  However, in the context of a real world full of pressures and difficulties, the question often becomes one of “how”?

J-R:  Taking care of yourself first might mean: get a job, pay your bills, take the dog for a walk, keep your house clean, or get enough sleep at night.  When these basic need levels are taken care of you can then look around you to see if there are others who need help.  If you are volunteering your time for this, that and the other thing but you don’t have your rent paid for this month, you really haven’t been taking care of yourself first, and it may cause tension or conflict inside of yourself.  Many times, the “pressures” of the world are just pressures that you’ve put upon yourself and they can be relieved by taking a more realistic look at your life and how you are using your time and energies.

Q:  Many times there seems to be a direct conflict between “taking care of yourself” and “not hurting others.”  For example, I may have to use physical force to protect myself from violence, and thereby hurt someone else.  How can this be resolved?

J-R:  Don’t put yourself in situations where there is the potential for you to get hurt.  You may surround and protect yourself with the Light of the Holy Spirit, but if you decide to walk down a dark alley at 2 o’clock in the morning, that’s not a very smart thing to do.  Don’t test the Spirit that far. Also, this appears to be a hypothetical question that you’ve asked and why spend time thinking about what might happen when instead you can take care of what’s going on with you right now!

Q:  I’ve had a problem for years – overeating.  Psychoanalysis helped me understand the why and the basic mechanics of my problem, but all the solutions I’ve tried have not worked.  I want desperately to break it.  Any suggestions?

J-R:  Love yourself no matter what.  That may sound silly and too simple, but it’ll work.  When you can let go of the frustration, the despair, the hurt, and the judgment you run against yourself, and just love yourself as you are, knowing that your worth, value and beauty have nothing to do with your physical form, you’ll release the negative energy you’ve built around you. Then you’ll be free to lose the weight, if you choose to.  When you make that breakthrough, any good weight reduction program will work.  All you have to do is work it.

Q:  What is the nature of thoughts and where do they come from?

J-R:  The Soul is where the energy pattern of thought originates.  Thinking is mentalizing – and that comes out of the mind area, which can be an extension of ego.  But it is the Soul, or what we would call the Self, that is the source of all information and all intellect.  The process of mentalizing comes from Universal Mind or the mental realm, which is located below the level of Soul.