Questions

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:33 AM	1 out of 12
	MIKE, WHAT ABOUT THE BIBLE? Answer… I think most people err in thinking that the Bible is God's word. She didn’t write it, we did, and then the original good words in it, were translated, and sadly, often manipulated, to stir fear and gain control over the masses. Way back then, the churches controlled people, not politicians or corporations, and as you well know, the churches fought wars, and killed, and maimed, and defamed... so why is it, that so many people today, still trust the churches to interpret "God's" word, because even today’s churches, most of them, rely almost entirely on information and interpretations that have been handed down to them through the ages. The Bible IS full of mind blowing insights, stories and parables, but unfortunately, I believe, it also contains enough passages that have been misinterpreted, twisted, deleted, or forged, to make it equally misleading. Instead of going into this any further, if you’re interested, let me recommend a book that is one of my all time favorites, entitled, “Discover The Power Within You”, by Eric Butterworth. A truly fantastic book loaded with biblical insights, and new interpretations of some of it’s most famous quotes.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:36 AM	2 out of 12
	WHAT ABOUT ACCOUNTABILITY, JUDGMENT AND PUNISHMENT? There’s no question that we are accountable for everything we think, say and do, but I don’t believe we are “held accountable”. The difference is that there is no need for someone outside of ourselves to make us stand and face the music. We do this for ourselves in that we unavoidable materialize our thoughts and beliefs about life… and when there are errors in our thoughts and understandings… these manifest in the way of lack, discord and disease. Our punishments come in 2 forms, first via living unhappy lives that result from improper thinking, and second, in the remorse or regret we’ll feel (and already do) as our understandings grow, because we’ll finally see how some of our thoughts, words and deeds of the past were “hurtful” to others and ourselves. God doesn’t pass judgment, God doesn’t punish, She doesn’t need to… we do plenty of that for ourselves (not that we should) so there’s no need to seek forgiveness from God… the only forgiving that needs to be done, is the forgiving of ourselves, so as to escape our own judgments and punishments. No matter what’s been done in the past, “God” does not want us to suffer any further… this is our Adventure and if anything, She wants us to get on with it… because the sooner we get to thinking right, the sooner we’ll get to living “right”, and the happier everyone will be. Besides, do you really think that God isn’t big enough to spontaneously UNDERSTAND and therefore forgive even the most grievous sin, whether asked to or not? You see, understanding is at the root of all forgiveness, even at a human level, in fact with true understanding… forgiving would be completely unnecessary, even at a human level. But if God was out there passing judgment, then let me ask you, what would be the point in a human life? To see if certain individuals could pass certain litmus tests as to being dutiful, obedient, subservient? What for? And what kind of Adventure would that be? And what the heck would God do with all the “good ones” who passed these tests, if there were any “good ones”? And why would She want Adventurers who think poorly of themselves, who misunderstand life, and who thus, perhaps commit crimes throughout their time on earth, say 50 to 100 years... to be tortured for eternity in hell? Does the crime fit the punishment, or better, considering the misunderstandings the perpetrators held about life, was their ever even a crime at all? cont...

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:37 AM	3 out of 12
	...Here’s a better idea to me: What if a reality was created by God, who made man and woman in Her likeness, given power and dominion over all, so that each and every one of us could then chart our own course, while learning of our own power and divinity? And what if this God so loved us, that everyone, no matter how badly they tripped and stumbled in life nor how poor their judgments had been... that everyone, would be lovingly embraced by this kind, omniscient, radiant, Being at the end of their lives and gently shown their true nature and perhaps the errors in their thinking... and what if, after this life reviews, each and every soul could then choose their next adventure, their next life, either within time and space, or perhaps in another kind of reality, so that they could try again, so that they could live again, love again, with the certainty that one day they WOULD understand their own divinity, grasping the wonder and magic and unending miracles of life, and thereby consciously enter the "Kingdom of Heaven"? In a reality like this, where would judgment and punishment fit in… except for what we dole out to ourselves unnecessarily? And where would the devil or hell fit in… nowhere? Doesn't this sound like a great workable plan? Of course, most people have never seen life like this... it sounds too easy… too wonderful… and this is because for eons and eons there’ve been huge misunderstandings about the nature of life, yielding erroneous thoughts, which in turn yielded manifestations of lack, discord and disease, which is pretty much how we’ve gotten to where we are today. So it’s no wonder the world has concluded that life is hard and that God must be judgmental, angry, or even vengeful… because people are judging it from the outside in. Life is not hard, or easy, it simply reflects, flawlessly reflects, our beliefs about it.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:38 AM	4 out of 12
	HOW CAN IT BE PROVEN, THAT OUR "THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS"? The lives of people around us offer a pretty good clue. We're all made of the exact some "stuff". Yet our lives are wildly different. Of course, there are some differences: some of us are tall, some skinny, some intellectual, some emotional, some psychic, some black, some white, some from "good" neighborhoods, some from "bad", some on wheelchairs, some who are blind, and the list goes on, but not a single one of these factors could give you even a remote clue as to the health or wealth or happiness that any particular person may, or may not achieve. Nor could you go to any group of people categorized by race, height, weight, zodiac sign, birthday, hair color, age, religion or disability... and have any idea of what to expect in terms of anyone of their member’s health, wealth or happiness. So what commonality does exist in the lives of the healthy, wealthy, and wise? Well… what else is left… except for the thoughts they choose to individually think, day in and day out. Our thoughts become things, and the indisputable proof is in the lives we lead.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:40 AM	5 out of 12
	BUT MIKE, I AM NOT THE ONLY ONE IN CONTROL OF EVENTS IN MY LIFE. THE MAN I AM MADLY IN LOVE WITH, WHO LOVES ME MORE THAN I EVER IMAGINED I COULD BE LOVED, IS TRAPPED IN A MARRIAGE HE NEVER SHOULD HAVE GOTTEN INTO. But you do have total control over YOUR life, YOUR feelings, and YOUR choices. You just don't have this control over other people's lives. Your relationships are your choice. Right now you are choosing to be in a relationship that cannot be consummated. Maybe one day that will change, maybe it won't, this is a risk you’ve chosen to take. Right now you’re insisting that love, happiness, romance, and appreciation must come from a specific person - but no one has the power/authority to control the will of another, just as no one can control your will, nor your choices. Instead, you could insist that love, happiness, romance, or appreciation come to you PERIOD... and it will. It has to. The magic of the Universe will be inspired on your behalf, based on your choices, your expectations, and your belief in its inevitability - and it will deliver love, happiness, romance, or appreciation IN PERFECT, HARMONIOUS WAYS via the perfect person for you. Yet, if you continue to pine for a specific person, whose life you have no control over... then you stymie the Universe's ability to find you the perfect person - in fact, you're no longer even asking the Universe for love, happiness, romance, or appreciation, but are asking it for a specific person... unfortunately however, the Universe cannot intervene in other people's freedoms. The Universe wants to help you... just don't "tie its hands".

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:42 AM	6 out of 12
	MIKE, IS SETTING DEADLINES FOR THE UNIVERSE OK, FOR EXAMPLE, CAN I NOT ONLY ASK THE UNIVERSE TO MAKE ME A MILLIONAIRE… BUT TO BE ONE BY THE END OF THIS YEAR? My answer is… YES and NO, It’s OK to ask… but I think more damage can be done with time frames than can help. When you start dealing with time frames you start meddling with the physical side of things… which is the domain of the Universe. You run the risk, again, of tying it’s hands from finding the best possible route between you and whatever you’re asking for. If when you’re visualizing, you’re seeing your dream already manifested… you’ve already told the Universe that you’re ready for it, and NOW! But if you come up with a date… well… what if the Universe could beat that date? And what if the manifestation of your dream is all but inevitable, but because you’ve given it a time frames that clashes with some of your deeper beliefs, you miss the deadline… then you’re not only risking the crushing disappointment of the missed deadline, but you may begin doubting whether or not you’ll ever get what would have otherwise been a certainty. You risk damaging your confidence in the Universe… and perhaps your belief in the overall achievability of whatever it is you wanted. Picking dates is almost as bad as dealing with the “cursed how’s”… it’s risky business, avoid doing it when you can. Now there are several instances when picking dates may seem unavoidable. The first is when you’re given a physical deadline… such as pay your rent by such and such a date, or your out. In this kind of situation, I’d still suggest taking your eye off the date, and instead focusing on your desired end result… having a wonderful roof over your head where your financial obligations are being met in a harmonious way, rather than insisting that it be a particular roof, and that a particular landlord, receive an exact sum of money, by an exact time. Get away from the details, those are for the Universe. The second situation you might use dates, is perhaps when setting goals… for instance, what do you hope to achieve this year… what do you hope to achieve in 3 years, 5 years, 10 years etc. but these kind of goals, by their nature, are much looser time frames and you already know when you’re setting them that they’ll likely change as your priorities change… so right off the bat, these kind of dates are more like guidelines than deadlines, which is good. Now having just said all that, I do believe that a truly enlightened person… would have no problem manifesting just about anything within a time frame… but until you’re walking on water… there’s just no need to go there and create all kinds of stress and anxiety.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:45 AM	7 out of 12
	I DON’T KNOW WHAT I SHOULD BE DOING WITH MY LIFE?! I have a 2 part answer for this one. Part I. Whatever it is you're now doing with your life, is what you "should be" doing... including asking the question you're now asking! If you weren't where you now are, you wouldn't be seeking the answers you most need, gaining the wisdom that perhaps you’ve chosen this life to attain. Part II. To ask that question, likely means you’d like to be doing “more” with your life. In which case, begin simply, by doing more. Like what? Little things first, which all on their own, will grow into bigger things. Every journey begins with a first step, it’s the hardest step because it seems so incredibly futile compared to where you see yourself going – especially frustrating to you because though you have grand visions, they are so hazy now that you don’t even feel you “know what to do with your life”. So for you, take many little steps, down every remotely interesting corridor that reveals itself before you. Go ahead and spread yourself too thin – what do you have to lose? Before long, you’ll know exactly what it is you should be doing with your life, and you’ll find that you’re in the middle of doing it.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:45 AM	8 out of 12
	I DON'T GET IT MIKE... I CHOOSE TO BE "TORMENTED??"... DO WE CHOOSE THIS??? IF SOMEONE IS UPSETTING ME... IT'S MY "WILL"?? I’LL HAVE TO THINK LONG AND HARD TO DECIDE WHY I COULD LOVE AND TRUST A MAN ONLY TO FIND HE HAD BEEN CHEATING ON ME ALL THESE YEARS WITH OTHER MEN… AND THEN DISCOVER I CREATED THIS REALITY! MIKE, HELP ME SEE THIS. This is a kind of question I get a lot of… people not understanding how or why they’d ever create hardships, or even horror stories, with their life. My answer is this, generally, no one sets out to create a horror stories before their life begins… but many of us do choose challenging circumstances, along with leanings and inclinations that may well get us into some hot water when combined with all the other choices we make. So while no one would, say, choose to marry an axe murderer… they could well choose to marry a deeply disturbed person, knowing what some of the consequences may be. And why would anyone want to find and fall in love with a deeply disturbed person… there’d be countless reasons… and first among them would be a recognition of the divinity within them and a desire to be part of their healing. But these decisions aren’t just made before a life begins… their remade in every moment of every life… so that nothing is pre-destined… and no one is at the mercy of past decisions. To give you another example, I’ve been in several relationships, that let’s just say, ended very badly… and let’s also just say, I was the one withering in pain when all was said and done… thanks to my deeper misunderstandings I have to add. But today, with hindsight, I can see those experiences a lot more clearly, and have taken from them two great lessons. First, being honest with myself, I was well aware in each case, of the potential for the kind of problems that arose long before they actually arose… yet I still allowed myself to stay in the relationships, and, still allowed myself to be totally shocked and dismayed by their unhappy endings. Kidding myself all along that such potentials didn’t exist. But here, the old adage applies… if you play with fire, you’re gonna get burned… and it does no good once you do get burned, to cry out your innocence. Like I’ve said before, we all know what’s going on in our lives, and in the lives of those we love. We’re all intuitive, psychic, and just plain intelligent enough to usually guess pretty accurately about what our probable futures will hold… but for a variety of reasons, and often, for some very good reasons, we don’t like to admit what those futures may be… and besides, our feigned naivety adds to the drama… and we all love drama. The second realization I’ve had in looking back… was that, while I chose to play with fire, subliminally or not, I NEVER THE LESS CHOSE TO PLAY… and I chose to play for some really excellent reasons, reasons so compelling, that even having been burned, those relationships were well worth it. What happened in the end was a small price to pay for all the good and fun that came from those very same relationships… truly some of the higher points in my life. All in all I chose not just the ending of the relationship, but the entire package… and as a package deal… they were well worth the ride. If you look at any incident in your life as an isolated incident, you’re really taking it out of context, but by looking at the bigger picture… at the events preceding and succeeding the incident… your entire life… or bigger still… understanding that it may have a place in the reincarnational mosaic of your experiences… at some point, you’ll always be able to find its value and therefore realize that it resulted from your choices to learn and grow… to be wiser and more compassionate. Life is all about learning.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:47 AM	9 out of 12
	MIKE, WHY DOES IT ALL SEEM SO HARD? FOR AT LEAST TWO DECADES NOW, I’VE READ THESE KIND OF WORDS AND BELIEVE THEM TO BE TRUE, BUT WHAT'S THE CATCH? WHY DOES IT SEEM SO HARD? LORD KNOWS I HAVE PLENTY OF THOUGHTS ABOUT HAVING THE LIFE I WANT, WHERE I'D LIKE TO LIVE, WHAT TYPE OF RELATIONSHIPS, WORK, HAVING FINANCIAL FREEDOM. SO WHAT'S THE MAGIC STEP TO MAKING THE GOOD THOUGHTS BECOME THINGS? IS IT ONLY OUR SELF HARMING, LIMITING, SELF-DOUBTING THOUGHTS THAT SO EASILY BECOME THINGS, EVEN WITHOUT ANY EFFORT?............... First of all, I think like most seekers you’re thinking that the answers are complex, mysterious, and as you said "hard" to find and apply, but that kind of thinking only perpetuates your search for answers and adds to the difficultly in finding them. So to get back to basics, the truth is, thoughts become things, period. There are no mitigating factors, no other laws involved. Those 3 words say it all, it couldn’t be more simple. Now, as I said in the 2nd recording, what makes us think as we do? Our beliefs. So if you’re finding that it seems your experiences are more unsatisfactory than satisfactory… it’s simply because, realize it or not, those are the nature of your prevailing thoughts…. which spring from your prevailing beliefs. Now concerning your beliefs… well a few jumped out from the questions you asked: you believe that mastering the direction of your life is hard, you believe it's mysterious, and you fear that there’s more to it than just thoughts becoming things... like maybe you have a destiny, or another (higher) hand is in your affairs, or you must pay penance for thoughts you didn't even know you thought, and as you believe, so do you experience, and thus you WILL FIND evidence that there are mysteries that you’re unaware of. Once you start becoming aware of your limiting beliefs, the trick is then to begin changing them… and to do this, you might begin by affirming that "it's easy, it's fun, I KNOW how life works" and stop saying "it's hard, I don't know, and I'm lost"... because even these little kinds of statements and thoughts make A BIG DIFFERENCE. Next, start behaving in line with the things you want to do or achieve. These actions, or acts of faith, as I’ve said before immediately begin negating any limiting beliefs you have that would have normally kept you from progressing. How many people say, “yes, I understand that my thoughts become things”, yet, spend no time visualizing everyday? How many of them continue to mull over unhappy memories of their past, just projecting more of the same into the future? How many truly strive to appreciate all they already have? How many have clearly defined the life of their dreams? Well if you truly believed that thoughts became things… you’d be visualizing, focusing on the good, and defining what you want – and if you’re not yet there… then really, you’re still of the persuasion that life is something that happens to you, rather than fully grasping that you are its conductor. Your test, like mine and others who HAVE found the answers, is to start living the answers. Knowing about them isn't enough. Living them in the presence of our old manifestations is what’s required, and it IS harder at first… but as your life begins changing and momentum starts building… it gets easier and easier.

	MIKE 3/6/02 11:50 AM	10 out of 12
	That's all for now... I posted more than usual from this recording, because many listeners have told me they found it very helpful to relate to other people's questions. Here's a final thought for today: Time and space Aren’t quite as they seem… Just magical props In a magical dream. Tallyho!

	DINA 3/6/02 9:30 PM	11 out of 12
	Well done Mike.... May I add another thought to your answers.. The one about the horrible relationships... My thoughts are this... it is not only thoughts that create things......it is the ENERGY behind them.. You can have wonderful daydreams that you choose not to believe... and fears that you DO choose to believe... It is more than thoughts.. it is faith that materializes things... These people that have horrible things happen in relationships...... somehow.... wasn't the relationship a mirror of their worst fears come to life? Not that we controll others... this is not what I mean. But the fact that we had this fear, and we seem to be put in circumstances over and over again where we are forced to confront our fear.... untill we are bigger than it. I believe that some of us get stuck because in facing that fear we begin to have more and more FAITH that that FEAR is out there stalking us... We put alot of Faith into our fears..... in these moments I have found it helpful to ask the Universe (God) to take the wheel and help me NOT to manifest my fears. ( and this is what I mean by having a parent to help us walk ) I also believe in asking God for forgiveness. Not because he/she needs to be asked... or out of fear.. But because the answer is always YES, and sometimes we need to hear that. And also out of respect and Love. Love, Dina

	MIKE 3/8/02 8:59 AM	12 out of 12
	Indeed, well said.