Decision making

We bring the questions of our lives to Knowledge so that it may guide our actions and communicate through us. The decisions we make will shape our lives.

"If you choose without Knowledge, Knowledge will not follow you. You may believe fervently that you are doing the right thing. You may even believe fervently that you are making the right decision. But if Knowledge does not go with you, you have no stability and no certainty in your endeavor."

“Knowledge will not support a wrong decision in a relationship, and Knowledge will not go with you into that relationship. If you commit yourself prematurely, you pull yourself away from Knowledge. You can still come back to Knowledge, but it will not go along with you. It will become mute and silent, patiently waiting once again while you live out another long and perilous error in life.”

"Your decision making here is crucial to your success. Never take it lightly and never assume that your decisions are not absolutely significant and important for the outcome of your life. The decisions you make today result in your life tomorrow. They determine what kind of decisions will be available to you tomorrow. Choose the way that has no destiny and no meaning, and you will spend your years trying to get back to where you started. But choose the way that is meant for you, the way that Knowledge within you will recognize and confirm, and every step you take will be a genuine step towards building a foundation for Knowledge and contribution."

"Your role here is predetermined, but how it will be carried out and the time it takes to carry it out—especially the time it takes to discover it and to prepare for it—can vary considerably. In this, your decision making has great importance, and indeed you will determine if the outcome can be achieved. What greater responsibility would you ever want to assume for yourself?"

A specific determinant in life outcome

"What you decide to do in your relationships will determine the kind of life you will have and the kind of problems you will have to solve. This is so important; it cannot be overlooked. There is so much at stake if you make a wrong decision. And it is difficult to undo something that never should have been done in the first place.Your experience will illustrate this for you."

Upon embarking on The Way of Knowledge

"This is a time not to make a great many decisions.This is a time to remain open and maintain a simple life—simple employment and simple involvements.This is the time to stay out of a primary relationship if you are single.This is a time to refrain from changing a primary relationship if you are in one."

Farther along The Way of Knowledge

"[Crossing] thresholds of learning, where you choose again to go on, ... your decision carries you forward. You do not have these experiences every day. You can experience self-doubt every day; you can struggle with yourself every day, but a real threshold of learning does not come every day."

"When you are entering a more conscious state, a state more committed to education and revelation, then you will seek an environment that is more conducive to the experience of awareness and knowing. This is a natural process, and it will become greatly accelerated as you become aware of it and can make conscious decisions in order to enhance your mental environment and to create greater opportunities for insight."

"There is so much Mystery in your life! How much bearing does this have on your everyday decisions and experience? A great deal. So, the important distinction to make is: Do not deal with manifestation mysteriously and do not deal with Mystery logically. They require different approaches.When you make everything mysterious, you lose touch with what is obvious and you will live in fantasy about everything. That is both pathetic and dangerous for you and your race."

Processes

"Imagine for a moment that Knowledge is a very wise, saintly person.... This person is available to you, so you go to him or to her with all of your questions and you say,“Teacher—or Master, or Saint—tell me what I should do here. Tell me where I should go. Tell me if I should make this decision....” Yet, when you go to your teacher, you find that in most cases your teacher is silent. At first, you leave very disappointed.... Well, if you go back again and again and keep going back, even if all you get is silence, then after awhile you will start to think that maybe you should contemplate what you are asking and consider if you are really prepared to have an answer. As you consider this, you will need to question if you are willing to change and how flexible you are. Do you want more answers simply to give your mind the fuel with which to think its old thoughts?"

Taking only what you need, keeping only what you use

"[1) Whether garments, relationships or ideas, evaluate which really work for you. Ask,] what relationships are really important to you? This fundamental question requires an honest response. [2)] Next, ask yourself if owning this thought, this object or this insight or being in this relationship feels correct to you. Not 'Can I justify it because of its benefits?' but 'Does it feel correct?' [3) Then,] appeal to Knowledge to show you what to do ... if the first two do not yield a decisive decision. Here you are asking to be shown.'Show me what I need to do. Show me what is important.'"

"When you are presented with new objects or given opportunities to buy new things, acquire new ideas, meet new people, or participate in new activities, ask yourself,“What do I really need and what do I really use? What is essential?” Part of this you can answer yourself. Sometimes you must appeal to Knowledge, not simply to tell you the answer because Knowledge does not engage in a lot of conversation, but to demonstrate it. Particularly in very important decisions, the way to go must be demonstrated because an idea is not enough.You must see it, know its value and see that it is totally relevant to your life and to your needs. This comes through demonstration."